A failed rocket launch in 1996 did not crash into a residential area, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC) announced Thursday, responding to claims that the experiment had killed 500 people.
CASIC said in a statement that on February 15, 1996 a Long March 3B rocket went out of control two seconds after takeoff due to an engineering defect, and crashed 22 seconds later, at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, in Sichuan Province. It killed six people and injured another 57.
A Sina Weibo user called "Golden Soul" claimed on Tuesday that the China National Space Administration was trying to down-play the accident and hide hundreds of deaths.
He also added a link to a video of the failed launch, which had allegedly been recently released by the Associated Press. The video showed some damaged houses near the launch center.
CASIC denied on Wednesday claims that the failed rocket had crashed in a local neighborhood and killed 500 people, saying that they are "obviously" baseless, as it makes no sense to build a launch center near a residential area. The company said that residences were not allowed to be built near the launch center due to security concerns. They said the damaged houses showed in the picture were temporary accommodation for workers at the center, which were evacuated 12 hours before the launch. Due to safety concerns, all the residents alongside the launch route were evacuated as well, and the center's personnel took shelter underground.
The statement also said that the video clip was always available to the public rather than having just been released, and is used to educate new CASIC employees.
"Golden Soul" admitted that he had made a mistake. He was punished by Weibo for spreading rumors and banned from posting for 15 days.
