Rocket explodes

last updated 8 January 2015

São Luis, Brazil

A rocket blew up on its launchpad in Brazil, killing 21 people and injuring 20 more. The dead were technicians conducting last-minute tests before the rocket, carrying two research satellites, was to be launched this week. It was Brazil’s third failed attempt to become the first Latin American country to send a rocket into space. The first crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in 1997, and the second had to be destroyed by remote control after it malfunctioned minutes after takeoff in 1999. This time, one of the craft’s four engines ignited unexpectedly. “We had just done two days of tests and everything went well, 100 percent,” said Brazilian Air Force Col. Romeo Brasileiro. “Everybody is devastated.”