The Apartment Cursed with Leukemia

An 18-year old woman died of leukemia in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, in the early 1980s. Then her 16-year-old brother contracted the disease and also died. The heartbroken family wondered if the apartment building they lived in might have had something to do with both their children's illnesses. After all, they had only moved in a year before their daughter became sick. They were the first family to move into new building number 7, which was luxurious by Soviet standards. Officials told them it was just the luck of genetics. Then the mother died, also of leukemia. The remaining family members moved out, and another family took that apartment.

In 1987, the second family in the same apartment had two sons develop leukemia, and one died. That adds up to five cases of leukemia in one unit! It had to be something about the building itself. It took another two years for Soviet officials to open an investigation. Find out what they learned at Amusing Planet.   

(Image credit: Artemka)