http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/08/30/btsc.chance.nukes/index.htmlupdated 12:49 p.m. EDT, Fri August 31, 2007
Inside the nuclear underworld: Deformity and fear
Story Highlights:
- Thousands in Kazakhstan remain scarred from decades of nuclear tests
- The Soviet Union did not evacuate villages when testing began
- Deformed woman: "If only there had been no bombs, I could have been equal"
- The problem of deformities is so big that there's a museum of mutations
By Matthew Chance
Editor's note: In our Behind the Scenes series, CNN correspondents share their experiences in covering news and analyze the stories behind the events. CNN's Matthew Chance was given rare access to Kazakh villages where above-ground nuclear tests have left generations scarred. Here, he describes what he saw for CNN.com.
SEMEY, Kazakhstan (CNN) -- Kazakhstan's nuclear orphans are a distressing sight.
This young child slept at an orphanage, his deformities the result of nuclear testing in the region.
The first child I met in the local orphanage was lying limply in his crib. His giant, pale head was perched on his tiny shoulders, covered in bed sores, like a grotesquely painted paper-mâché mask. Peering out, a pair of tiny black eyes darted around.
It took me a few seconds to understand what I was seeing. The doctor told me he was 4 years old.
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