Four killed, 110 homes destroyed in forest fire in eastern Ukraine

Firefighters work to put out a forest fire in Luhansk Region, Ukraine July 7, 2020. State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via REUTERS

Four people died and nine were hospitalised as a forest fire swept through villages in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, Ukraine's emergency services said.

The fire has destroyed 80 dacha holiday cottages and 30 houses in two villages, the service said in a statement.

This spring, forest fires around the defunct Chernobyl nuclear plant in the north of the country and elsewhere pushed pollution levels in Ukraine's capital Kyiv to the worst in the world.

Firefighters work to put out a forest fire in Luhansk Region, Ukraine July 7, 2020. State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via REUTERS

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Alison Williams)

A firefighter tries to extinguish a fire burning in a village in Luhansk Region, Ukraine July 7, 2020. State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via REUTERS

Local residents and police officers collect water as they try to extinguish a fire damaged a household in a village in Luhansk region, Ukraine July 7, 2020. Ukrainian Interior Ministry Press Service/Handout via REUTERS