Updated on Tuesday, April 25, 2006, 00:00 IST

Moscow, Apr 24: Up to 8,000 Russians have died from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster 20 years ago, health officials said today, amid an ongoing dispute over the number of deaths and long-term health effects caused by the accident.

Vladimir Demidov, a Health Ministry official charged with Chernobyl matters, said between 7,000 and 8,000 Russians died as a result of the accident, and some 60,000 have been declared disabled because of the sustained damage to their health.

The explosion at Chernobyl's reactor number 4 spewed radiation across northern Ukraine, western Russia, Belarus and much of northern Europe over a 10-day period. Death tolls connected to the explosion, which released about 400 times more radiation than the US atom bomb dropped over Hiroshima, remain hotly debated, though at least 31 people died as a direct result of trying to contain the fire.

The Health Ministry's figures appeared to contradict other estimates, including two United Nations studies. A report by the World Health Organisation - the UN health agency - released last week said about 9,300 people in all affected areas were likely to die of cancers caused by radiation.

A study by the International Atomic Energy Agency and several other UN groups conducted last year came to a similar conclusion, predicting that the disaster would cause about 9,000 deaths.

Bureau Report