Thousands of people died as a result of the tragedy.
At the heart of the Chernobyl exclusion zone is a deadly radioactive object which has been aptly called the most dangerous object on Earth as it can kill you within minutes. Dubbed the Elephant's Foot due to its bizarre shape, the highly dangerous mass of toxic material was formed in the aftermath of the 1986 nuclear disaster. Thousands of people died as a result of the tragedy. However, while the dangers of the disasters are now well documented, people were largely ignorant at the time of just how high the risks were.
Almost eight months after the blast, investigators braved the Chernobyl site. There they discovered something strange and ominous - a black, searing hot, lava-like substance which had burned through the facility's basement where it had then solidified. This hardened mass was later called the Elephant's Foot due to its shape and colour, Forbes reported.
A resurfaced video footage, which has recently been circulating on social media, shows a group of men in Hazmat suits within touching distance of the "foot".
Take a look below:
According to Forbes, Elephant's Foot was formed from highly dangerous corium and was so hazardous that anyone who spent just five minutes near the 10-foot toxic blubber would have died within just two days.
When it was first measured, the radioactivity near the Elephant Foot was approximately 10,000 roentgen. For context, 50-100 roentgen are enough to cause radiation sickness in a person. Notably, 30 seconds of exposure would have caused dizziness and fatigue, while two minutes of exposure would cause the cells in your body to haemorrhage. And just 5 minutes in the Elephant Foot's presence would kill you within two days, according to science publication Nautilus.
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Despite almost 40 years having passed since the nuclear disaster, the mass and the surrounding areas are still unsafe and polluted by dangerous levels of radioactivity. Experts believe that Elephant Foot could be the most dangerous piece of waste in the world and even today setting foot in the chamber where it is slowly cooling amounts to a death sentence.
Therefore, in a bid to further study the effects of corium without risking their health, researchers are trying to replicate small amounts of the Elephant's Foot chemical composition in the lab. But they have also acknowledged that because the replica is not an exact match, any studies based on it should be interpreted with a grain of salt.
For now, scientists continue to investigate ways to prevent disasters like Chernobyl, and the emergence of the Elephant's Foot, from ever happening again.