The RIA Novosti news agency reported this Tuesday that two French people had tried to reach the legendary Russian spaceport located in Kazakhstan to watch the launch of a rocket.
A French citizen died in Kazakhstan after falling ill while trying to walk to the Russian Baikonur cosmodrome with another Frenchman, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti said on Tuesday, citing an anonymous Source. According to this Source, the victim died of dehydration on Monday.
The Russian daily Izvestia also reported the information claiming that the two French people, aged 25 and 27, had taken a flight from Paris to Almaty in Kazakhstan to attend a departure of the Russian space shuttle Buran. The newspaper reports that the two men crossed the desert with a temperature of plus 32°C.
Desert steppes
One of the two reportedly began to faint and had a nosebleed. His companion then left him to seek help from the local police. The victim unfortunately did not survive when the authorities, alerted by the second Frenchman, reached her.
The Baikonur cosmodrome is located in Kazakhstan, in a large desert and isolated steppe area, leased by Russia. Previously frequented by Western tourists, it is now only open to Russian citizens since the invasion of Ukraine. Built in 1956, this legendary launch base allowed the Soviet Union to launch its first satellites into space as well as the first man.
