Kazakh man dies in fire following Russian rocket launch: govt.

A Kazakh man died and another was hospitalised after they were caught in a fire on the steppes triggered by falling debris from a Russian space launch, emergency services said today.

The blaze, reaching 15 kilometers (9.5 miles) across, was unleashed by parts of a rocket that fell to earth on Wednesday after launch from the nearby Baikonur cosmodrome, emergency situations committee spokesman Ruslan Imankulov told AFP.

The rocket had been used to successfully launch a supply ship destined for the International Space Station (ISS), emergency services in Kazakhstan said Thursday.

Russia's space agency Roscosmos confirmed the death in a statement today, attributing it to "difficult meteorological conditions in the fallout region," which is experiencing extremely high temperatures.

The truck the deceased man was driving was smothered by flames "as a result of a particularly strong gust of wind", the statement added.

Imankulov told

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