Indonesia investigates crash of suspected Chinese rocket fragment

A plantation worker found the debris in Indonesian Borneo on Monday morning after residents reported a loud bang over a remote area of Central Kalimantan the previous evening. (AFP pic) JAKARTA: Indonesian authorities were investigating on Tuesday after a car-sized piece of what a government agency said was a Chinese space rocket crashed into a palm oil plantation near homes and work sites.

The debris was found on Monday morning by a plantation worker in Indonesian Borneo, after residents reported hearing a loud bang the previous evening over a remote area of Central Kalimantan province.

"It was just there. At first, I thought it might have been aircraft debris," Wardi Tamroni told AFP of his discovery near the town of Sampit.

Wardi, 51, said the object had crashed about three kilometres (1.9 miles) from the housing complex of the PT Agro Bukit palm oil company he works for.

"We usually carry out our activities in the area where the object fell," he added.

"Fortunately, all the workers had already gone home, so no one was left in the plantation."

Local police chief I Kadek Dwi Yoga Sidhimantra described the object as "a fairly large aluminium plate measuring up to nine metres with an irregular shape and visible burn marks".

The incident did not cause loss of life or property damage, according to civil aviation spokesman Zachrudien, who like many Indonesians has one name.

The debris also posed no radiation or toxicity risks, he added.

Indonesia's National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) said the debris appeared to come from a Chinese Zhuque-2E rocket.

The Chinese government said last week that a Zhuque-2E rocket had launched 10 satellites into space from a commercial launch site in the country's northwest.

BRIN researcher Thomas Djamaluddin said in a statement that not all parts of a spacecraft necessarily burn up on re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, and more heat-resistant parts may reach the surface.

"This phenomenon is one possible explanation for the discovery of a large metal fragment in a palm oil plantation in Sampit," he said.

Debris usually crashes into the oceans which cover about 70 percent of Earth's surface, and the European Space Agency says casualty risk to individuals on Earth due to uncontrolled re-entry is "extremely low", though growing as launches increase.

The China National Space Administration could not be immediately reached for comment.