The deaths began the next day. The first was a firefighter from the Chernobyl power plant brigade, Sergeant Vladimir Tishura, who had climbed to the roof with Pravik minutes after the explosion. On May 11 Pravik and Kibenok—the commander of the Pripyat brigade—both succumbed to their injuries. Grotesque rumors would later reach Pravik’s men back in Ukraine: that he had been exposed to such intense radiation that the color of his eyes had changed from brown to blue, and doctors found blisters on his heart. That same day, Alexander Akimov became the first of the plant operators to slip away: he
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