Chernobyl's 19th anniversary commemorated
Hundreds of mourners laid flowers and lit candles early today before a monument in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, to mark the 19th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which spewed radiation over much of northern Europe and claimed thousands of lives.
As the country slept on April 26, 1986, a test at the then-Soviet Chernobyl nuclear power station went horribly wrong, causing Reactor Number Four to explode and catch fire.