Chornobyl first responder says few survive 40 years on

Petro Hurin, 76, one of hundreds of thousands of ‘liquidators’ brought to clean up the aftermath of the explosion that tore apart reactor Four of the Chornobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine on April 26, 1986, visits a monument dedicated to his grandson Andrii, a Ukrainian serviceman killed at the age of 26 while fighting near Bakhmut in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region in 2023, at a memorial in Cherkasy region, Ukraine April 7, 2026. REUTERS/Anna Voitenko

(Edits story tag to match pix and TV)

KHUTORY, ⁠Ukraine, April 21 (Reuters) - Petro Hurin says his health has never been the same since he was sent 40 years ago to clear the Chornobyl site ⁠in the wake of the world's worst nuclear accident.