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No toxic components of rocket fuel found at Proton crash site

The report said air and soil probes were taken by Kazkosmos specialists in three settlements

Photo ITAR-TASS

Photo ITAR-TASS

ASTANA, July 2 (Itar-Tass) - Toxic components of rocket fuel - heptyl and amide, were not found at the Baikonur launch pad that Russia leases from Kazakhstan and the area around it, the KazKosmos National Space Agency of Kazakhstan reported on Tuesday following the crash of a Proton-M booster rocket off Baikonur on Tuesday.

“According to preliminary data, the above substances were not found in probes taken as of 12:00 local time (10:00 Moscow time), a media report by KazKosmos said.

Thus, no harmful substances were found in soil or air in the area where the Proton-M booster rocket crashed.

The report said air and soil probes were taken by Kazkosmos specialists in three settlements - the city of Baikonur, as well as in the settlements of Tyuretam and Aktai.

The Proton-M booster carrying three Glonass-M satellites blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome at 06:38, Moscow time on Tuesday. Immediately after the launch, it deviated from the trajectory and began to disintegrate in midair.

It fell some 2.5 kilometers from the launch site and exploded. Roskosmos said the accident occurred in the 17th second of the flight because of emergency engine shutdown. An aerospace source said the accident had not been caused by a breakdown of the DM-03 accelerator unit.

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