THE “world’s most dangerous town” is finally being removed from maps decades after people first started to die just from breathing in the toxic air.
Dubbed “Australia’s Chernobyl” the once bustling mining town of Wittenoom is set to turn extinct after residents were forced to leave over serious safety concerns.
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The lethal legacy left behind by the town is a chilling reminder of the dangerous silent killer that is asbestos.
Surrounded by 50,000 hectares of poisonous earth the town still had residents living there up until May of last year despite repeated warnings and thousands of deaths.
Roads were blocked off, signs ripped from the ground and every map in the country had become blacklisted from showing the fatal patch as the death toll ramped up each year.
Still to this day, people are dying from respiratory issues related to the now abandoned ghost town as its become a tourist spot for a whole new generation.
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Wittenoom was previously a social hub for real estate and a property developers dream back in 1943.
Mining for blue asbestos first began as people moved in and the booming industry created a unique buzz that saw thousands of families flock to the area for work.
The very thing that attracted them to Wittenoom in the jobs was also what was slowly killing them each and every day as the toll of the chemicals they were breathing in soon became apparent.
Over 2,000 workers and residents died due to the killer fibres and forced the mines closed in 1996.
The air is still toxic with asbestos today much like it’s counterpart in Europe – Chernobyl that was caused by a devastating nuclear error.
Australian authorities were so worried of a second Chernobyl style disaster that they tore down anything that could point people into the direction of danger.
It was taken off all maps in the country and road signs were ripped out of the ground and remade in a bid to discourage people from visiting.
All roads leading to it have been blocked and not a single trace can be seen in Australia of the deadly town.
The government demolished buildings and sealed off the waste dumps from the mines before disconnecting it from the national grid and making the town near obsolete.
But despite the huge national efforts, three million tonnes of asbestos was still flying through the air after being left behind in the gorge and the surrounding area.
Cleaning up the town and making it completely safe would’ve cost a whopping £20million in the 1980s according to reports at the time – a figure that would be dramatically increased in today’s economic climate.
Officials issued serious warnings that exposure to just a single fibre “could prove fatal” and declared the town would never be safe for any human to live in ever again.
The Western Australian Government announced Wittenoom’s official status as a town would be removed back in December 2006.
And since then the town has gone through a complete thorough closure even if it was dragged out over several years after residents protested over being forcibly kicked out.
Despite the repeated warnings and clear dangers being pointed out, some locals decided to try and stay put.
Leaving became a bitterly hard pill to swallow for some but all eventually left.
Just six people were still in the town by 2015, dropping to four the following year and just two by 2020.
Lorraine Thomas was the last woman standing in Wittenoom and stayed for so long as the town had essentially been her entire life up until that point.
Her daughter Aileen told the Daily Mail: “It’s been her home. It’s where her husband is buried in the cemetery.”
But even Lorraine ended up leaving as she had her bags packed in May 2022.
Lorraine is one of hundreds who have loved ones buried under the toxic wasteland as it became a culturally important thing to do whenever someone became a victim of the toxicity.
Back in the day the mine had an impressive workforce of around 7,000 people and 13,000 residents called the place home.
The mine closed after a few decades due to a lack of profitability and falling asbestos prices around the world.
Even today the ill-effects of living that close to an extremely dangerous chemical is clear to see.
Studies suggest at least a quarter of the people who worked in the mine will eventually die of mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease.
Despite the deadly health warnings, Wittenhoom has become a surprise hit with tourists who can hunt it down.
Online hundreds of photos have been posted of people wandering through the ghost town, as some get a thrill out of posing in front of warning signs.
It’s crazily been labelled as a “bucket-list” location and has attracted many from across Australia.
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