MINSK, Belarus (AP) - Almost a quarter of Belarus remains contaminated by radiation from the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, a government report has found.
The report issued Monday said more than 220,000 Belarussians have suffered physical ailments as a result of the 1986 explosion - the worst commercial nuclear power accident in history.
Belarus' Emergency Situations Ministry said the number of cases of leukemia, thyroid cancers and tumors in the former Soviet republic is still climbing, a direct result of the disaster in neighboring Ukraine.
In Ukraine, doctors have also reported increases in thyroid and other cancers in children. Last spring, Ukraine's Health Ministry said more than 125,000 people had died by 1994 as a result of the accident.
Official Soviet accounts put the number of deaths at 32, mainly plant operators and firefighters who were exposed to heavy doses of radiation immediately after nuclear plant exploded and caught fire.
The new Belarussian report found that the worst contamination is along Belarus' southern border with Ukraine, an area with 1.8 million people, the Interfax news agency said.
Leukemia cases there nearly doubled in 1995 from the previous year, following an upward trend that began in the late 1980s, Interfax said. Many of the sick are those who lived in an 18-mile area around the plant.
Belarus, located along Russia's western border, has a population of 10.4 million.