Progress debris found in Altai mountainous forestry area

BARNAUL, August 25 (Itar-Tass) - Debris of the Progress cargo
spacecraft that collapsed on the earth Wednesday shortly after the launch
from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan have been found in the Chebalar
mountainous forestry area in the south of the Choya district in the
Republic of Altai, a constituent region of Russia in southern Siberia.
A source at the regional police told Itar-Tass the Chebalar forestry
area is located near the township of Bizhelbik. He also said there was no
fire at or around the site of the debris crash.
The Altai emergency service did not confirm this report at 11.30 p.m.
Moscow time. "Roscosmos will give all comments," a source in the Altai
emergency service said.
The source said nonetheless that an emergency situation has been
announced in the Choya district.
The authorities have set up an emergency response committee.
The search for the debris will enter an active phase after dawn. The
standard zonal time in the Republic of Altai is GMT + 7 hours and dawn is
due at 05:25.
The source specified that the fragments found by now are those of the
carrier rocket. "But it's not ruled out that some parts of the debris fell
in another two districts of the region."
Authorities in the neighboring Altai territory have set up an
emergency response committee, too.
A fall out of the fragments of carrier rockets launched from Baikonur
is not uncommon either in the Republic of Altai or in the Altai territory
but the latter becomes the zone of the fallout of waste rocket parts more
often.
The area where fragments will be found most typically embraces the
central parts of the Iolgo, Sumultinsky, and Altyntu mountain ranges and
the upper reaches of the rivers Uimen, Pyzha, Greater and Smaller Simulta.
The fallout area has the form of an ellipse covering a space of 70 km
by 40 km.
Residents in the Republic of Altai have no reasons for panic over the
collapse of the Progress cargo spacecraft. The local authorities put the
situation under full control, Altai's leader Alexander Berdnikov said on
Wednesday.
"The likely area, where the Progress debris fell down, is already
fenced off, all services are engaged in the search," he said. The
republican government has set up a special group, which is controlling the
emergency situation. Berdnikov also confirmed that the Progress debris
collapsed in the Chebalar mountainous forestry area near the settlement of
Bizhelbik in southern Choya district in the Republic of Altai. The
emergency situation was announced in the district. The search in other
districts continues.
The deputy director of the Institute of Water and Ecological Problems
of the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Alexander
Puzanov, told Itar-Tass earlier that the Progress debris most likely does
not pose a threat to Altai residents. He was watching an abortive launch
of the Soyuz-U booster with the Progress M-12M cargo spacecraft at the
Baikonur spaceport on Wednesday.
"It is not clear yet what happened in particular," Puzanov said. "The
Progress debris fell down in the mountainous area. Hardly any threat
exists. The rocket fuel burnt down in the atmosphere," Puzanov noted. He
also emphasized that he will leave for Altai on Thursday to join the
search for the Progress debris.