Chernobyl Incident Timeline

27 April 1986, Sunday.

12:00 am. 22 hours and 38 minutes after the explosion.

Buses begin to arrive in Pripyat. They wait for the command to evacuate the city, spending the entire night in a state of alert.

1:13 am. 23 hours and 51 minutes after the explosion.

The operation of Units 1 and 2 is stopped at 1:13 am and 2:13 am respectively, 24 hours after the start of the accident at Block 4.

7:00 am. 29 hours and 38 minutes after the explosion.

General Pikalov sets out in a truck fitted out with radiation apparatus. He rams through the closed gates and stops at the plat to measure the radiation. He establishes that the graphite in the reactor is burning and that an enormous amount of radiation and heat is being given off.

Approximately 10:00 am. 32 hours and 38 minutes after the explosion.

Helicopters make first drops of sand, boron, and lead

Between 27 April and 1 May, about 1800 helicopters flights deposit over 5,000 metric tons of sand, land, clay, and neutron-absorbing boron onto the burning reactor. It is now known that virtually none of the neutron absorbers reached the core.

The Ukrainian filmmaker Vladimir Shevchenko captured film footage of a Mi-8 helicopter as its main rotor collided with a nearby construction crane cable resulting in the death of its four-man crew. The photo of the helicopters crew shown in the video clip below was taken by Igor Kostin the day before it crashed

12:00 pm. 34 hours and 38 minutes after the explosion.

Radiation levels drop slightly. There was brief hope that no evacuation would be necessary. However, the level of radiation rises again and reaches its maximum level.

2:00 pm. 36 hours and 38 minutes after the explosion.

Residents were given two hours to gather their belongings. The evacuation of Pripyat's 43,000 residents took 3.5 hours, using 1,200 buses from Kiev. Residents remember that everyone was in a hurry, but nobody was panicking. The residents of Pripyat were asked to carry with them only what was required for 2 to 3 days, some food, a change of underwear, and their identity papers. Dosimeters are confiscated.

Of those who tried to return later, having realized that Pripyat was lost forever, to fetch belongings of affection, some succeeded but many more encountered alarm-wired buildings and armed military.

An Excerpt of the evacuation announcement :

"For the attention of the residents of Pripyat! The City Council informs you that due to the accident at Chernobyl Power Station in the city of Pripyat the radioactive conditions in the vicinity are deteriorating. The Communist Party, its officials, and the armed forces are taking necessary steps to combat this. Nevertheless, with the view to keep people as safe and healthy as possible, the children being a top priority, we need to temporarily evacuate the citizens in the nearest towns of Kiev Oblast. For these reasons, starting from April 27, 1986, 2 pm each apartment block will be able to have a bus at its disposal, supervised by the police and the city officials. It is highly advisable to take your documents, some vital personal belongings and a certain amount of food, just in case, with you. The senior executives of the public and industrial facilities of the city have decided on the list of employees needed to stay in Pripyat to maintain these facilities in good working order. All the houses will be guarded by the police during the evacuation period. Comrades, leaving your residences temporarily please make sure you have turned off the lights, electrical equipment, and water and shut the windows. Please keep calm and orderly in the process of this short-term evacuation."