Moscow (dpa) - Villagers living in the vicinity of a Russian
rocket crash are complaining of ill health possibly caused by toxic
space debris, officials in Russia's Altai Republic said Thursday.
Eight residents of the remote central Asian Choisky district were
found to have developed similar symptoms after a Progress rocket
booster smashed into Taiga forest after a failed Wednesday space
shot, staff at a local hospital said.
All lived in the vicinity of the village Karakoksha and were
suffering from increased blood pressure, coughs and fever, Interfax
reported.
A Progress cargo rocket launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in
neighbouring Kazakhstan on Wednesday evening left its planned
trajectory and, breaking into pieces, crashed some 1,500 kilometers
downrange.
The third stage of the booster struck ground in the Altai's
Choisky district. An estimated 1.5 tons of highly-toxic liquid fuel
was likely still on board, according to local news reports.
Exposure to the fuel could cause headaches, nausea and breathing
difficulties.
Russian mission control officials sometimes rely on the help of
residents of Russia's Central Asian and Siberian districts, the main
landing area for Russia's space programme, to locate space objects
returning to Earth.
But health officials denied there is a link between the Progress
rocket's crash and possible health problems of Altai district
residents.
"We have checked the area and waterways in the vicinity, and our
tests have shown there has been no contamination," said Gennady
Onishchenko, Russia's chief health inspector, in comments to
Interfax. "These complaints must have some other cause."
The Progress rocket crash destroyed a Russian government GLONASS
navigation satellite. The failure followed an August 18 launch by a
Proton rocket, also from Baikonur, which caused the total loss of a
Russian government communications satellite by placing it in an
incorrect orbit.
Russia's national space agency has announced a wide-reaching
investigation into the country's rocket fleet and the Baikonur
cosmodrome, as a result of the two accidents.
Copyright 2011 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH