Forest fire threatens Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear zone

KIEV (Reuters) - A forest fire in northern Ukraine threatened on Tuesday to spread towards the abandoned Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP) on Tuesday, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said in a post on Facebook.

"At 1830 (1530 GMT) the situation with the forest fire around the Chernobyl plant escalated. The flames once again consumed the forest in the direction of the Chernobyl plant. Fire in the treetops and sharp gusts of wind seriously threaten to spread the blaze in the 20 km (12.4 mile) zone around the plant," he said.