The city of Pripyat was built in 1970 as a home to the thousands of people that worked on and around the power plant. The day after the accident and the explosion at the plant when it was clear that there had been a huge leak of radiation, the people in Pripyat were given two hours to pack their belongings and were told that they would be away for a matter of days; they would never return to their homes.

Words and images by Darren Nisbett