(AP) -- Britain's home affairs minister was to answer questions in parliament Thursday after authorities found traces of radiation on two British Airways jetliners in London during the search for clues in the poisoning death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, reports Trend.
Home Secretary John Reid, heading a top government committee looking at the potential public health risk of the radiation, was to answer questions in Parliament later Thursday. British Airways said it had been told the risk to the public was low.
The two planes -- along with a third that was grounded in Moscow but had yet to be tested -- were on the London-Moscow route, but also made stops in Barcelona, Frankfurt and Athens over a period of three weeks. Thousands of passengers aboard some 200 flights have been asked to report any symptoms of radiation poisoning.
It was not immediately clear whether the traces could have come from passengers who may have come into contact with Litvinenko or whether a radioactive substance could have been smuggled on board. 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 Nov. 23.
Around 33,000 passengers and 3,000 crew and airport personnel had contact with the 221 flights on the three planes, said airline spokeswoman Kate Gay. She said the government contacted the airline but would not say what aroused its suspicions.
Litvinenko had said before he died a week ago 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.
Two planes at London's Heathrow Airport tested positive for traces of radiation. The third plane has been grounded in Moscow, the airline said.
The airline 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. (Flight list)
In a deathbed accusation, Litvinenko blamed Putin for his poisoning -- a charge Putin strongly denied.
Earlier on Wednesday, Italian security expert Mario Scaramella -- one of the last people to see Litvinenko before he fell ill -- said that tests 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 told The Associated Press by telephone.
Scaramella, who returned to London to undergo tests and talk with the police on Tuesday, said he is in 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 contamination, the Health Protection Agency said.
A coroner will perform an autopsy on Litvinenko on Friday, "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 posed a threat to those performing the post-mortem.
An inquest begins Thursday but it will likely take months for any results.