Chernobyl selfies criticised after spike in tourism to disaster site

An increase in Chernobyl tours has been attributed to a critically acclaimed mini-series about the nuclear disaster. But a number of viral Instagram Chernobyl selfies has some calling for tourists to respect the site.

Source: The Feed

Catch The Feed 8:30pm Thursdays and 5pm Sundays on SBS VICELAND . Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The writer of the popular mini-series ‘Chernobyl’ has urged those visiting the nuclear disaster site to respect the area, after a number of viral Instagram photos drew ire from social media users.

Tourism to the area has spiked after the premiere of the U.S. television show about the world’s worst nuclear accident, with reports of a 40 per cent rise in trip bookings since HBO series aired in May.

Tours explore the post-apocalyptic town of Pripyat, which was home to around 50,000 people,  and the Soviet-style power-plant which exploded in 1986.

Labelled the Chernobyl disaster, the event is the world’s worst nuclear accident, followed by Japan’s Fukushima disaster in 2011. Estimates of casualties vary between 4,000 and 200,000.

Photos of Instagram users posing in hazard suits at the site have been criticised, with the show's writer and producer Craig Mazin tweeting: "It's wonderful that #ChernobylHBO has inspired a wave of tourism to the Zone of Exclusion. But yes, I've seen the photos going around."

"If you visit, please remember that a terrible tragedy occurred there. Comport yourselves with respect for all who suffered and sacrificed."

Instagram influencer Julia Baessler, who has more than 300,000 followers, attracted the most criticism after a series of posts on the site. However, she has labelled the backlash sexist and she has visited the site twice, once before the TV show aired.

Julia Baessler posted on Instagram while visiting Chernobyl. Source: Instagram

"I didn't come to visit Chernobyl as a tourist attraction or shooting spot because of the HBO series and I'm sick of reading this. I have been visiting Chernobyl for the first time long before the series came out because I'm really interested in history and nuclear physics itself," she told Business Insider.

The outcry comes just months after organisers of the Auschwitz Museum called for social media users to respect the site, tweeting: "When you come to

@AuschwitzMuseum remember you are at the site where over 1 million people were killed. Respect their memory."

"There are better places to learn how to walk on a balance beam than the site which symbolizes deportation of hundreds of thousands to their deaths."