Bridge of Death

The "Bridge of Death" is a railroad bridge that connects Pripyat and Chernobyl Town. The Bridge earned it's nickname when rumors began to circulate that residents of Pripyat came to the bridge to watch Chernobyl's roof burn, receiving a fatal dose of radiation in the process and later all dying of radiation injuries or sickness. These rumors likely inspired the bridge scene featured in HBO's miniseries, Chernobyl.

However, there is no evidence of this event actually happening. It is most likely that almost everyone in Pripyat slept through the event. A survivor, then eight or nine at the time, did indeed bicycle to the bridge and watch, but he is still alive and healthy today.

Between Pripyat and Chernobyl Town is a railroad bridge that serves as the main entry point into Pripyat. Prior to the Chernobyl Disaster, this bridge was just an innocuous feature of many people's day to day life.

Following the Chernobyl Disaster, this innocuous bridge has earned a more sinister name amongst the locals: "The Bridge of Death." The story goes that on the night of the explosion, the roof of the burning building would have been visible from the bridge, which lays only 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) from the plant. The story goes on to say that some of the locals of Pripyat came out to the bridge to watch the "beautiful rainbow coloured flames" (Telegraph, 2009) as the core burned. Anyone standing on the bridge would have been exposed to some 500 roentgens, a fatal dose of radiation. It is believed that everyone who stood on the bridge later died.

This story was later picked up and featured in HBO's highly successful television drama, Chernobyl.

In the wake of Chernobyl's release, a storm of attention was turned to whether or not this event really happened. Shramovych and Chornous interviewed Oleksiy Breus, an engineer who had been working at the power plant since 1982 (2019). He personally entered the control room mere hours after the explosion and witnessed the immediate aftermath of the morning after the explosion. When asked if he thought anyone had been at the bridge, he said it was more likely that Pripyat's residents slept through the explosion. He himself did not learn about it until he arrived in the morning.

Adam Higginbotham, author of Midnight in Chernobyl, spoke in an interview with Bulletin of the Scientists about having talked with a survivor and former resident of Pripyat, who was about 8 at the time, who said that he had taken his bike out to the bridge that night and had indeed watched the roof burning, but is today just fine and perfectly healthy (Stover, 2019).

Forgotten Chernobyl. (n.d.). Chernobyl. Bridge of Death. https://www.forgottenchernobyl.net/chernobyl-bridge-of-death

Shramovych, V. & Chornous, H. (2019). Chernobyl survivors assess fact and fiction in TV series. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48580177

Stover, D. (2019). The human drama of Chernobyl. Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. https://thebulletin.org/2019/05/the-human-drama-of-chernobyl/

Telegraph. (2009). A Tour of Chernobyl and Pripyat. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/worldnews/5043362/A-tour-of-Chernobyl-and-Pripyat.html