The existence of Mayak was a secret. Only very few people knew it was there. For this reason, the people living in the areas affected by the accident were not told about the accident. On 6 October, a week after the accident, the authorities started to evacuate about 10,000 people, but they did not tell about the reason for the evacuation. People grew hysterical with fear because unknown 'mysterious' diseases were breaking out. Victims were seen with skin 'sloughing off' their faces, hands and other exposed parts of their bodies." It was Zhores Medvedev who revealed the nature and extent of the disaster to the world.