TYUMEN, June 23 (RIA Novosti, Alexander Perestoronin) - Efforts to locate a Molniya-M carrier rocket that crashed shortly after take-off on Tuesday are continuing in the Tyumen region (Western Siberia), the head of the local emergencies situations department said. Alexander Ogorodnikov said helicopters and a plane had been searching for the rocket for two days, but had failed to spot any sign of it.
"The search will continue today in an area 140 by 70 kilometers, including taiga and bogs, which present certain difficulties," Ogorodnikov said. "Besides, poor weather - rain and low clouds - is also complicating the search effort."
The Molniya-M blasted off from the Plesetsk launching site (in northern European Russia) at 4.49 a.m. Moscow time with a military satellite on board. The rocket crashed in the Tyumen region after 298 seconds.
There is no ecological threat to the region because the rocket was using what it considered to be environmentally friendly fuel, kerosene and liquid oxygen.
