Special report: A black memory: Chernobyl nuclear disaster

    BEIJING, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of Ukrainian mourners holding candles and red carnations marked the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster on Wednesday.

    The mourners filed slowly through the streets of Slavutych, the town constructed to house the workers of the Chernobyl plant who were displaced after the world's worst nuclear accident.

    The explosion and fire at reactor No. 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on April 26, 1986, contaminated large stretches of territory in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, and sent radiation throughout Europe.

    In Kiev, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko joined other dignitaries by the "Chernobyl church" where survivors convene every year. He laid a large bundle of roses at a memorial bearing the names of the firefighters and engineers who died trying to extinguish the flames or later from excessive doses of radiation.

    Prior to the anniversary, Yushchenko called for financial assistance to build a new "sarcophagus" to replace the leaking original containment structure.

    "I am calling for the convening of a new conference of donors in Ukraine on Chernobyl's problems to set out a new stage of cooperation," Yushchenko said.

    Canada announced on Tuesday it would donate an additional 7 million U.S. dollars to help complete the concrete shelter over the damaged reactor.

    According to the World Health Organization, around 9,000 people were expected to die because of radiation exposure. The United Nations says 7 million people still live on land with unsafe radiation levels.

    Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, stressed the importance of international cooperation on nuclear safety issues on Tuesday.

    "In remembering the Chernobyl accident, we should renew our determination to ensure that such a tragedy will not happen again," said ElBaradei in a statement.

    U.S. President George W. Bush said Washington was committed to improving "the safety and security of Chernobyl by confining its nuclear reactor."

    In Moscow, veterans of the desperate efforts to contain the Chernobyl nuclear disaster two decades ago pleaded with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday for help in treating the lingering effects of the accident.

    Putin later promised to look into setting up a treatment centerfor people suffering from exposure to large doses of radiation. Enditem