A paramedic who flew to New Zealand's White Island to rescue tourists after Monday's volcanic eruption has said the scene was like something out of "the Chernobyl mini-series". Soviet television showed, on April 30, 1986, this picture of the Chernobyl plant on which a half-destroyed building could be seen.

“I had been assigned to a mission area, but I refused until the cranes had been made safe.” After Chichcov’s refusal, one of the Mi-8 crews on scene was asked to complete the mission, accepting it and ultimately, never returning. Chernobyl disaster, accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in the Soviet Union in 1986, the worst disaster in nuclear power generation history. But we should remember that it is a drama, not a documentary. Chernobyl the series is amazing to watch, and the reconstruction of events before and during the accident was remarkable.

Between 2 and 50 people were killed in the initial explosions, and dozens more contracted serious radiation sickness, some of whom later died. Chichcov was at the time of the explosion at Chernobyl a Mi-26 helicopter instructor that was dispatched as part of the response effort.