Huge forest fire around Chernobyl thwarted: authorities

A huge blaze that tore through forests around the defunct Chernobyl nuclear plant has been put out, Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday, saying hundreds of emergency workers had used planes and helicopters to douse the flames.

Francis Maguire reports.

A huge forest fire close to Chernobyl nuclear plant has been put out, according to authorities in Ukraine on Tuesday (April 14).

They said hundreds of emergency workers had used planes and helicopters to douse the flames, which had raged for more than a week.

Video footage taken last weekend showed plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky and trees still alight.

Chernobyl plant was the sight of the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986.

Aerial images of the 19 mile exclusion zone around the plant showed scorched and blackened earth.

Campaigners from Greenpeace had warned the fires could disperse atoms that emit radiation.

The government said radiation levels were still within normal limits overall in the nearby Kiev area, and did not require additional protection measures.

The fires began on April 3 in the western part of the exclusion zone and spread to nearby forests.

Police have arrested a 27-year-old who they accuse of deliberately starting the fire.