Radiation Fatal to Moroccan, Paper Says

RABAT, Morocco — A Moroccan studying at the Soviet Nuclear Research Institute in Kiev has died from radiation absorbed after the April 26 reactor disaster at the nearby Chernobyl plant, an opposition newspaper said Friday.

A Moroccan diplomat in Moscow, however, said the death of Abdessalam Chichi was not related to the explosion and fire at the nuclear power plant 60 miles north of Kiev. The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he could not provide further information on the cause of Chichi’s death.

The plant accident has cost 26 lives, according to the latest official Soviet figures released June 5, but no foreigners have been reported among the victims.

Moroccan authorities made no official comment on the report by the daily Al-Ittihad Al-Ichtiraki, the official organ of the opposition Socialist Union of Popular Forces.