In Kiev, the Chernobyl ghost in the footsteps of the coronavirus

Kiev

Double punishment for Ukrainians in quarantine since March 11: two forest fires broke out on Saturday midday in a logging perimeter of the exclusion zone surrounding the damaged Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Initially limited to 20 hectares, the disaster has apparently spread to around a hundred hectares. On Sunday, the flames seemed to be under control, but several sectors were still in " slow combustion ", according to the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

Also read: Nicolas Baverez: "Coronavirus, lessons from a Chernobyl health"

Authorities first reported an out-of-area radiation rate " staying within the limits of the norm ", but Sunday, Egor Firsov, director of the Ecological Inspection Service of Ukraine, alerted the public: " There are bad news, the radioactivity at the heart of the fire is above normal. He posted this message on Facebook, with a photograph of a Geiger counter showing a rate 16 times above normal. One hundred firefighters, two planes and a helicopter were mobilized,

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