Wildfires burn in Chernobyl-affected parts of Belarus, raising
radiation levels

Tue Jul 16, 1:37 PM ET

MINSK, Belarus - Dozens of wildfires are burning in parts of Belarus
that were worst affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, raising
radiation levels in the area, officials said Tuesday.

At least 30 peat fires and 11 forest fires are burning in the Gomel
and Brest regions of Belarus, according to the country's emergency
situations ministry. The regions absorbed much of the fallout from the
1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident, when a reactor in nearby Ukraine
exploded and caught fire, sending a cloud of radiation over Europe.

Belarusian Emergency Minister Valery Astapov said radiation levels in
the fire zone are elevated, though he did not say by how much. In one
town in the Gomel region, people are staying indoors and keeping their
windows closed to keep out the smoke, local authorities said.

One fire in the Brest region is burning 300 hectares (741 acres),
another is burning 800 hectares (1,976 acres), the emergency ministry
said. Some 4,000 people are trying to put out the fires in the Gomel
region.

Belarus, a former Soviet republic, is still struggling to recover from
the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster. The country's authoritarian
president, Alexander Lukashenko, has sought closer union with Russia
to improve the country's moribund economy.

===