MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, Ukraine’s Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said the fire near the disaster site had spread across some 400 hectares. Interior Troops and the National Guard were put on high alert.
“Fire units operate uninterruptedly. Units and fire protection equipment have arrived from Kiev to help local firefighters. No panic and hysteria! The situation was complicated, but it is under control. The spread of fire towards Chernobyl is stopped, there is no threat,” Shkiryak wrote on Facebook late Tuesday.
#Chernobyl forest fire. Spread over 400 hectares. Radiation unchanged, Ukraine govt assures pics via @Kabmin_UA pic.twitter.com/wGiKfIQnbA
— Maxim Eristavi (@MaximEristavi) April 28, 2015
On April 26, 1986, the worst nuclear power plant accident in history took place in the Soviet Union, on the territory of modern-day Ukraine, near the border with Belarus. One of the Chernobyl plant's reactors exploded, causing a massive leak of radioactive materials.
Dozens of people, mostly plant workers and rescuers, died in the accident and of acute radiation syndrome in the following months. Thousands more were affected by radiation.
Спільно з Прем'єр-Міністром України Арсенієм Яценюком здійснили повний обліт території масштабних пожеж в зоні відчуженн…
Posted by Зорян Шкиряк on Tuesday, 28 April 2015
