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Natural disasters

Ukraine's PM pledges Chernobyl wildfire no threat to people

According to the prime mninister, the radiation levels in the fire zone and in Kiev are normal

© EPA/TASS/ANDREW KRAVCHENKO / POOL

KIEV, April 29. /TASS/. The wildfire situation near the site of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster is under control, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk said on Wednesday.

"The fire situation has stabilised and the radiation levels in the fire zone and Kiev are normal," Yatsenyuk told a cabinet meeting.

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"There is no threat to local residents and those involved in the firefighting effort," he said.

Local officials told TASS earlier that fire broke out on Tuesday in the southern, less contaminated part of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone but the blaze has almost reached "the area which was more contaminated after the Chernobyl NPP disaster."

Zoryan Shkiryak, the acting head of Ukraine's emergencies service, said earlier he was convinced that the fire would be extinguished by the end of the day.

The Exclusion Zone covers an area of approximately 2,600 square kilometers around the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

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Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk Wildfires Natural disasters

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