Russian military authorities have revealed that in an incident at the Plesetsk launch site in Northern Russia on 9 November 2013, two military officers were killed attempting to rescue a soldier who had himself been overcome with nitrogen tetroxide oxidiser fumes in a propellant storage tank during a cleaning operation. Three other soldiers were also injured in the incident. A full investigation is now underway.
The last fatality at Plesetsk occured during a Soyuz launch failure in October 2002. According to details held on Flightglobal Ascend SpaceTrak database, one of the boosters lost thrust and fell off the vehicle, striking the launch pad, while the main rocket crashed down range. The pad explosion blew out a window frame killing an observing conscript soldier.
