【】
Leave it to Instagrammers to make a literal nuclear disaster a popular spot for photo shoots.
Thanks to HBO's riveting historical drama Chernobyl, the real Chernobyl -- the Ukrainian nuclear power plant that was the site of the April 1986 disaster which remains the worst of its kind -- is becoming an increasingly popular tourist destination.
And where there are tourists, there are Instagram poses.
View this post on Instagram
Search Instagram for photos from the area around Pripyat, Ukraine, near the remains of the Chernobyl plant, and you'll see a number of similar posts of visitors making Instagram poses in front of the long-abandoned ruins. There are even some slightly NSFW "model shots," including one in which a young woman is seen disrobing from what looks like a protective suit.
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
One disaster tour company told Reuters that it has seen a 40 percent increase in bookings since the Chernobyl miniseries debuted in May. Other companies reported similar spikes in reservations. English-language tours will reportedly set you back about $100.
It's a morbid uptick that goes beyond the usual disaster tourism like, say, the tour buses through New Orleans' Ninth Ward after Katrina. What makes Chernobyl so unusual is that the site is still classified as an exclusion zone, due to the ongoing radiation and toxicity of the area as a result of the explosion.
View this post on Instagram
The death toll of the disaster also makes the trip a "morally queasy experience," as the Irish Timesput it. Thirty-one people reportedly died in the first few months following the explosion. But as many as 9,000 more people are suspected to have died since then due to diseases caused by radiation exposure -- though some estimates set that number much higher.
View this post on Instagram
One tour guide insisted to Reuters that anyone visiting the area is safe from lingering radiation now, 33 years after the disaster.
“Many people come here, they ask a lot of questions about the TV show, about all the events. People are getting more and more curious,” said tour guide Viktoria Brozhko, who insists the area is safe for visitors.
“During the entire visit to the Chernobyl exclusion zone, you get around two microsieverts, which is equal to the amount of radiation you’d get staying at home for 24 hours”,” she said.
Indeed, plenty of people are willing to tromp around the site with absolutely no protection, as their Instagram posts indicate.
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
The number of people visiting Pripyat and Chernobyl is only likely to grow in the coming months as more viewers check out the HBO series. There's also apparently a plan for a similar series from Russian network NTV that will tell what it claims to be the "true" version of the disaster, including U.S. spies that the country suggests were responsible for the explosion.
So if you had both "Instagram disaster porn" and "the Cold War being re-litigated through premium cable" on your 2019 bingo card, congrats, you're in the money.
Featured Video For You
Russia reportedly made a bigger use of Instagram than Facebook during elections
TopicsHBO
相关文章
This app is giving streaming TV news a second try
Watchup, the once-buzzy news video streaming service, is trying its hand again at the news game with2024-11-21Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky restage their iconic #TBT photo
By now, everyone has seen the throwback photo of Michael Phelps giving a 9-year-old Katie Ledecky hi2024-11-21Olympic cheering blamed for active shooter chaos at JFK Airport
There was total chaos at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on Sunday night as reports2024-11-21Now you can wear Grindr apparel while you grind
Grindr, the gay hookup app, is officially coming to a T-shirt near you. The brand, the most popular2024-11-21Tyler, the Creator helped Frank Ocean celebrate 'Blonde' release in a delicious way
The release of Frank Ocean's。 Blonde 。is a cause for celebration to the fans who waited four years fo2024-11-21Millions of sunflowers bloom in Japan and the images are stunning.
More than a million sunflowers are in full bloom at the Serakogen Nojo flower farm in Sera, Japan. T2024-11-21
最新评论