World

Russia declares emergency as wildfires kill 34

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-08-03 09:12

People walk along Moscow's Red Square with St. Basil's Cathedral seen in the background through heavy smog caused by peat fires in nearby forests August 2, 2010. [Photo/Agencies]

Fire nears nuclear facility

Authorities stepped up firefighting manpower to fight blazes near a nuclear centre in Sarov in the Nizhny Novgorod region, the Interfax news agency quoted Emergencies Ministry official Pavel Plat as saying.

The nuclear centre, now a research facility, was a top-secret location in Soviet times codenamed Arzamas-16, where the first Soviet atom and hydrogen bombs were designed.

A spokesman for state nuclear agency Rosatom, Sergei Novikov, told Ekho Moskvy radio the centre was not currently in danger but said firefighters were on guard in case new blazes broke out on land south of the centre.

Thick smoke blanketing the area prevented Emergencies Ministry aircraft from dropping water on the flames. ITAR-TASS news agency reported that at least five civilian flights were cancelled at Nizhny Novgorod airport because of the smoke.

Smog returned to the capital after a hiatus over the weekend. The concentration of pollutants, which has caused health concerns, was slightly lower than the absolute summer high recorded last week, an air monitoring expert said.

"The concentration of carbon monoxide and suspended particles surged three to eight times in the morning hours," Alexei Popikov, chief specialist at Mosekomonitoring, a government agency monitoring air pollution, told Reuters.

Pollution rose up to 10 times above the norm on Wednesday, the agency said, the worst this summer but lower than a record high reached during wildfires in 2002.

Russia's heat wave is expected to last through the week at least.