Chernobyl Disaster 360 Degree Photos Show Radiation Ghost Town 30 Years Later

Haunting 360 degree photos show the abandoned homes, schools and hospitals inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, thirty years after the catastrophic nuclear disaster. 

The meltdown of reactor number four at Ukraine's Chernobyl reactor led to the creation of a 'restricted zone' contaminated by radiation, with the town of Pripyat evacuated of approximately 43,000 people.

The town where the plant stood has remained a ghost town since the 1986 accident, which spewed radioactive fallout across the globe.

Thirty-one people died in the meltdown but the radiation leak could have affected up to a million people in surrounding countries.

The long-term effects are still being investigated, but some estimates suggest cancer deaths caused by Chernobyl may reach 4,000. A rise in mutations in animals in nearby countries were recorded after the meltdown. 

A series of breathtaking panoramic photos show the disaster's effect on the city, which lies abandoned with empty playgrounds, a crumbling hospital, and beds that are untouched since the accident.

Rotting wooden bleachers sit at the former football pitch and plastic gloves lie on an examining table in a former morgue.

Pripyat was built in the 1970s as a model Soviet city to house the workers of the plant and their families.

Chernobyl was the world's worst civilian nuclear accident, releasing four hundred times more radioactive material than the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. 

The cause of the accident is disputed, with some parties blaming operators' actions and others the reactor's design.

These panoramic photos commemorate the 30th anniversary of the 26 April disaster.