Japan Tells Tourists to Stop Taking Selfies Near Fukushima Disaster Zone

Officials in Japan are trying to get tourists to quit taking selfies at the site of the Fukushima nuclear disaster seven years after a devastating series of tsunamis at the prefecture's nuclear plant. Twenty-six warning signs in English have been posted along a 45-mile stretch  telling thrill-seekers to not stop their car or pose for photos in areas that still have dangerously high levels of radiation. 

 The signs read "No Entry!" for motorcycles, mopeds and other light vehicles. Pedestrians and bicycles are also prohibited from traveling down National Road 114. Other signs warn of a "High-dose radiation area" and ask people to "Please pass through as quickly as possible."

The road through the town of Namie was re-opened in September to motorists, and is primarily used by construction vehicles removing contaminated waste from the disaster area and taking it to a landfill site. 

Fukushima police appealed to the Japanese government for help after the number of incidents involving tourists getting out of their vehicles in the hot zone were becoming more and more common. 

Four reactors at the Fukushima nuclear power plant were damaged by a tsunami after a major earthquake in March 2011. Dangerously high levels of radiation were released in the accident and the area north-west of the Fukushima nuclear plant is still considered harmful to human health. 

Photo: Getty Images