Fifty years ago there was a nuclear accident at a chemical plant in Chelyabinsk region in the Urals. It caused widespread contamination, which is still affecting local people today. Many of those who suffered radiation poisoning are yet to receive compens

The amount of radiation near Muslimovo village remains 60 times above normal levels.  

Half a century ago an explosion blew open a tank containing radioactive waste at the nearby Mayak chemical plant.

Locals reported seeing a raspberry-coloured glow and then grey flakes falling to  the ground.

Even the factory's employees didn't know exactly what happened.

The next day a cleaning operation began.  Locals and professionals were drafted in to clear the radioactive waste that had contaminated an area for miles around the factory.

Workers at the plant say they weren't properly protected during the clear-up. 

“What protective clothing! It was normal work wear: an overall, a cap, underwear and boots,” said Eduard Alenov, a former employee at the Mayak plant. 

Level of radiation near Muslimovo village is 60 times above the safety level.

Professionals who took part in the decontamination operation say they constantly checked themselves with radiation detectors.

Gulchara Ismagilova was sent to clean the waste when she was only thirteen, along with her schoolmates. Now, only eight of them are alive.

She says they didn't have any detectors or special clothing.

“My body temperature was about 40 degrees. I was senseless, blood leaked from my mouth. I had a terrible headache which was unbearable,” Gulchara Ismagilova said.

Only now are the residents of Muslimovo being given the means to leave the affected zone. The neighboring village of Tatarska Karabolka is being forcibly settled with new residents.

Sisters Alfiya and Lilya Amineva were sent there directly from an orphanage.

They were given accommodation provided to all orphans under the law, but the area is not the one they'd have chosen themselves.
 
“They won't allow us to sell our house, or even to invite anyone else to live with us. The authorities told us, 'as you live here, you'll die here',” Alfiya said. 

Alfiya has two little children.

Now, she's appealing to the courts to support her right to a life outside the contaminated zone. She says her struggle is not so much for herself, but for the future of her children.