China rocket crashes after 'accidental' launch

A rocket that accidentally launched after getting separated from its launch pad crashed in China on Sunday.

Footage on social media shows the Tianlong-3 rocket falling back to Earth and exploding in a hillside in central China’s Henan province.

The company responsible for the rocket, Tianbing Technology said the rocket “broke away” from the launch pad during a ground test. It has blamed structural failure for the incident. It added that there were no casualties from the incident as people in the area had been evacuated.

The Tianlong-3 is Chinese designed and manufactured and intended to be a reusable rocket.