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56 wildfires registered in Chernobyl’s Zone of Alienation

70% of those fires were deliberate, head of the Ukrainian emergencies authority says, adding that investigation into the recent big fire is underway

An aerial view of a forest fire in the Chernobyl area, Ukraine AP Photo/Ukrainian Emergency Situations Ministry Press Service handout photo via AP

An aerial view of a forest fire in the Chernobyl area, Ukraine

© AP Photo/Ukrainian Emergency Situations Ministry Press Service handout photo via AP

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Chernobyl fire poses danger of radiation spread over vast areas — expert

KIEV, July 29. /TASS/. Over 50 wildfires have been registered since beginning of the year in the Chernobyl Zone of Alienation, head of the Ukrainian emergencies authority Mykola Chechetkin said.

"70% of those fires were deliberate," he said in an interview with Ukraine’s 5 Channel. "Investigation into the recent big fire is underway."

The fire began on June 29 and took the area of about 130 hectares. In certain parts of the fire the radiation grew by ten times, the nuclear regulation inspection registered on July 1. Later on, fire brigades managed to stop the fire on the grass, while smouldering of the peat there continued for another two weeks.

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