Ukraine has reported that radiation levels near the site of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster have spiked as firefighters battle to contain forest fire in the area.
Egor Firsov, head of Ukraine's ecological inspection service, wrote in a Facebook post, "There is bad news -- in the center of the fire, radiation is above normal. As you can see in the video, the readings of the device are 2.3, when the norm is 0.14. But this is only within the area of the fire outbreak."
The post included a video with a Geiger counter showing radiation at 16 times above normal.
On Sunday morning, the fire was not visibly burning and no increase in radiation in the air had been detected, the emergency service said in a statement.
However, the service said on Saturday that increased radiation in some areas had led to “difficulties” in fighting the fire while stressing that people living nearby were not in danger.
Chernobyl polluted a large swathe of Europe when its fourth reactor exploded in April 1986, with the area immediately around the power plant the worst affected.
People are not allowed to live within 30 kilometers (18 miles) of the power station.
