People light candles and place flowers at the monument for Chernobyl victims in Slavutich, where the power station's personnel lived, some 50 kilometers from the accident site, early Thursday. Ukraine marked the 32nd anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster which was the world's worst nuclear accident. Photo: AFP

 

The hit TV series "Chernobyl" has attracted a new generation of tourists to the zone but guides say that many are more interested in taking selfies than learning about the accident.

The hard-hitting mini-series recreates the April 1986 disaster, when one of the reactors at the Soviet Union's Chernobyl plant, in what is now Ukraine, exploded during testing.

The blast spewed radiation over a vast swathe of Europe and a 30-kilometer exclusion zone remains in place around the plant, although a small part of it is open to a growing number of tourists.

The abandoned site had already become a "dark tourism" destination in recent years, even before the eponymous TV show that has picked up 19 Emmy nominations.

But some Ukrainian travel agencies have adapted their tours to take in locations from the "Chernobyl" series and offer further special trips, such as kayaking in rivers around the exclusion zone.

AFP