Authorities have found traces of radiation on two British Airways jetliners in London, grounded a third plane in Moscow and asked passengers on more than 200 flights to come forward as investigators widened their search for clues in the poisoning death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko.
British Airways said it had been told the risk to the public was low.
All three planes had been on the London-Moscow route, the airline said on Wednesday.
In the last three weeks the planes had also traveled to routes across Europe, including Barcelona, Frankfurt and Athens.
It was not immediately clear how the radioactive traces got on the aircraft.
Authorities refused to specify whether the substance found was polonium-210, the rare radioactive element that was found in Litvinenko's body after his death on Nov. 23.
Around 33,000 passengers traveled on 221 flights on the three planes, said airline spokeswoman Kate Gay.
Three thousand crew and airport personnel had contact with the planes.
Gay said the airline was working closely with police.
Authorities refused comment on what aroused their suspicions about the planes.
However, Litvinenko had said before he died that a group of Russian contacts who met him on the day he fell ill had traveled to London from Moscow.
A former colonel with Russia's Federal Security Service, Litvinenko had been a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin before his death.
After the discovery of high doses of polonium-210 in his body, Britain's Health Protection Agency began a screening program for people who visited the same venues as Litvinenko on Nov. 1.
Traces of radiation have been found at six sites visited by the ex-spy.
British Airways officials said the British government contacted them late on Tuesday and told them to ground the planes to allow investigators looking into the death of the former intelligence agent to test for radiation.
Two planes at Heathrow Airport in London tested positive for traces of radiation.
The third plane has been taken out of service in Moscow awaiting examination, the airline said.
"The airline is in the process of making contact with customers who have traveled on flights operated by these aircraft, which operate within Europe," a British Airways statement said.
"British Airways understands that from advice it has been given that the risk to public health is low," the statement added.
The airline has published a list of the flights affected on its Web site, and told customers on these flights to contact a special help-line set up by the Health Ministry.
In a deathbed accusation, Litvinenko blamed Putin for his poisoning, a charge Putin strongly denied.
British Home Secretary John Reid, who chaired a meeting of the government's emergency committee, said that the tests on the planes were part of a wider scientific investigation into sites that could be linked to Litvinenko's death.
Earlier on Wednesday, Italian security expert Mario Scaramella -- one of the last people to see Litvinenko before he fell ill -- said that tests have cleared him of radioactive contamination.
Scaramella came from Rome to meet with Litvinenko at a sushi bar in London on Nov. 1 -- the day the former intelligence agent first reported the symptoms that ultimately led to his death at a central London hospital.
"I am not contaminated and have not contaminated anybody else," Scaramella said.
Scaramella, who returned to London to undergo tests and talk with the police on Tuesday, said he is under security protection and refused to say where he was.
More than three dozen staff at the two hospitals that treated Litvinenko will be tested for radioactive contamination, Britain's Health Protection Agency said earlier on Wednesday.
A coroner will perform an autopsy on Litvinenko tomorrow, "subject to appropriate precautions," in a bid to pin down the cause and circumstances of the death, said the local authority responsible, Camden Council.
Doctors had sought expert advice on whether Litvinenko's radioactive body could pose a threat to those performing the post-mortem.
A coroner's inquest was due to be opened yesterday and then adjourned until the police investigation is complete, the council said.
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