<p>Ukrainian authorities on Sunday reported a spike in radiation levels in the restricted zone around Chernobyl, scene of the world's worst nuclear accident, caused by a forest fire.</p>.<p>"There is bad news -- radiation is above normal in the fire's centre," Yegor Firsov, head of Ukraine's state ecological inspection service, said on Facebook.</p>.<p>The post included a video with a Geiger counter showing radiation at 16 times above normal.</p>.<p>The fire has spread to about 100 hectares (250 acres) of forest, Firsov wrote.</p>.<p>Kiev has mobilised two planes, a helicopter and around 100 firefighters to fight the blaze, which broke out Saturday and spread over 20 hectares in a forested area near the Chernobyl power plant.</p>.<p>On Sunday morning, the fire was not visibly burning and no increase in radiation in the air had been detected, the emergencies service said in a statement.</p>.<p>However, the service said Saturday that increased radiation in some areas had led to "difficulties" in fighting the fire, while stressing that people living nearby were not in danger.</p>.<p>Chernobyl polluted a large swathe of Europe when its fourth reactor exploded in April 1986, with the area immediately around the power plant the worst affected.</p>.<p>People are not allowed to live within 30 kilometres (18 miles) of the power station.</p>.<p>The three other reactors at Chernobyl continued to generate electricity until the power station finally closed in 2000. A giant protective dome was put in place over the fourth reactor in 2016.</p>.<p>Fires are common in the forests near the disused power plant.</p>
<p>Ukrainian authorities on Sunday reported a spike in radiation levels in the restricted zone around Chernobyl, scene of the world's worst nuclear accident, caused by a forest fire.</p>.<p>"There is bad news -- radiation is above normal in the fire's centre," Yegor Firsov, head of Ukraine's state ecological inspection service, said on Facebook.</p>.<p>The post included a video with a Geiger counter showing radiation at 16 times above normal.</p>.<p>The fire has spread to about 100 hectares (250 acres) of forest, Firsov wrote.</p>.<p>Kiev has mobilised two planes, a helicopter and around 100 firefighters to fight the blaze, which broke out Saturday and spread over 20 hectares in a forested area near the Chernobyl power plant.</p>.<p>On Sunday morning, the fire was not visibly burning and no increase in radiation in the air had been detected, the emergencies service said in a statement.</p>.<p>However, the service said Saturday that increased radiation in some areas had led to "difficulties" in fighting the fire, while stressing that people living nearby were not in danger.</p>.<p>Chernobyl polluted a large swathe of Europe when its fourth reactor exploded in April 1986, with the area immediately around the power plant the worst affected.</p>.<p>People are not allowed to live within 30 kilometres (18 miles) of the power station.</p>.<p>The three other reactors at Chernobyl continued to generate electricity until the power station finally closed in 2000. A giant protective dome was put in place over the fourth reactor in 2016.</p>.<p>Fires are common in the forests near the disused power plant.</p>