(26 Apr 2015) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBERS: 2056436, 2056505
Hundreds gathered at a memorial to victims of the Chernobyl disaster on Saturday night to mark the 29th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear disaster.
A religious ceremony was held at the memorial in Slavutych, where people laid flowers and candles.
Slavutych, located 37 miles from Chernobyl power plant, is the closest inhabited city to the exclusion zone.
It is a purpose-built town that houses those displaced by the disaster.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Sunday laid flowers at a memorial to victims of the disaster.
More than 30 people died immediately after the explosion in 1986 and more than 4,000 people were killed in the aftermath of the blast and subsequent fire, succumbing to radiation-related diseases contracted after taking part in the cleanup effort.
After laying flowers at the memorial to the firefighters, who sacrificed their lives extinguishing the fire caused by the explosion at the power plant, the Ukrainian leader was shown around the plant to check the progress on the construction of the New Safe Confinement.
The structure is set to contain the nuclear reactor in Chernobyl to prevent it from leaking radioactive material into the environment.
The 1.63 (b) billion dollar-project is due for completion in 2017.
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