Forest fire logs in Chernobyl exclusion zone, authorities report

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Chernobyl, the hot spot for many tourists 1:14

(CNN) - The State Emergency Service in Ukraine reported a forest fire that started in the uninhabited exclusion zone around the Chernobyl power plant, site of the 1986 nuclear disaster.

This photograph taken on April 5, 2020 shows a forest fire burning in a 30-kilometer Chernobyl exclusion zone, not far from the nuclear power plant. (YAROSLAV EMELIANENKO / AFP via Getty Images)

A statement released Monday indicates that firefighters had responded to a 20-hectare fire cover area in the exclusion zone that was evacuated after the accident at the Soviet nuclear power plant.

As of 7:00 am local time Monday, efforts were still being made to extinguish two fires, one involving 124 firefighters and two An-32P fixed-wing aircraft and a Mi-8 helicopter that made a total of 42 launches of water to put out the fire, the statement said. Fourteen other firefighters were responding to a fire covering an area of ​​around 4.9 hectares, the report added.

Ukrainian authorities reported on April 5 an increase in radiation levels in the restricted area around Chernobyl, the scene of the world's worst nuclear accident, caused by a forest fire. YAROSLAV EMELIANENKO / AFP via Getty Images)

The ministry said that background radiation in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, was "within normal limits and does not exceed natural background values."

Chernobyl