Pripyat Hospital № 126

Pripyat Hospital 126 was once a busy hospital on the outskirts of the city.

Hospital № 126 is located east of the central square in Pripyat. This is a long, five-story building with a large main entrance. It houses a large medical complex, including a maternity ward, an ambulance station, a pediatric unit, out-patient clinic, a morgue, etc. The first victims, Chernobyl NPP workers and firefighters, were brought here on the night of the accident. Their clothes – boots, helmets – are still piled up in the basement and are off-the-charts: the radioactive background from these things is at least one roentgen per hour.

Over the past 30 years since the accident, the Chernobyl Zone has changed beyond recognition; it has become a peculiar, separate, lost world, with its own history and destiny. And although time flows differently in the Exclusion Zone than outside it, the 21st century has also arrived here. But in the hospital basement, it seems like it’s the same never-ending Saturday, April 26, 1986.
As an entity, Hospital № 126 continues to exist today. It is now located in the city of Chernobyl on Kirov Street. Exclusion Zone employees and samoseli get check-ups and medical care here.

This article was published in the book Interesting Chernobyl.
You could download this book in PDF file for free here.

© Sky Horse Publishing House (Kyiv) / Nahs Haus, 2019
Copying and publication of this article is possible only with the written permission of the publishing house.
Official website of the Awesome Heritage series: awesomeheritage.com

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