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Natural disasters

Wildfire area in Chernobyl Exclusion Zone decreases to 70 hectares — administration

In the controlled perimeter, firefighting efforts continue in certain regions

© EPA/TASS/ANDREW KRAVCHENKO / POOL

KIEV, April 30. /TASS/. The area of fires in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone has decreased to 70 hectares, the zone’s administration told TASS on Thursday.

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"The report distributed today by the State Emergency Service [of Ukraine] corresponds to reality," a Chernobyl Exclusion Zone’s administration representative Pavel Semykin said. The administration "is not directly involved in extinguishing fires," he noted.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said earlier today that the area of fires in the exclusion zone has decreased from 320 to 70 hectares. "On April 30, fires stopped spreading. In the controlled perimeter, firefighting efforts continue in separate regions with the total area of around 70 hectares," the emergency service said.

The forest wildfire broke out in the Chernobyl NPP Exclusion Zone on April 28. According to previous reports, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told the government meeting, "The fire situation has stabilized and the radiation levels in the fire zone and Kiev are normal. There is no threat to local residents."

Ukraine's Interior Ministry instituted a criminal inquiry into the reasons of the fire, with arson and negligence among main versions.

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