MOSCOW, May 16 (UPI) -- A Russian rocket carrying a Mexican telecommunications satellite crashed in southeastern Siberia minutes after it launched Saturday, Russian news agencies reported.

The Proton-M rocket was launched from Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan at 11:47 a.m. local time and crashed about eight minutes later in the Chita region of Siberia. The cause of the engine failure is unclear. It is not yet known if there are any injuries in the sparsely populated region.


The failure occurred in the unmanned rocket's third stage, which is supposed to propel it into orbit. Instead, an "emergency situation" occurred during the boost phase, Russia's federal space agency, Roscosmos, said.\

There have been no reports of any wreckage found and some fear the rocket could have contained several tons of the highly toxic rocket propellant heptyl.

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"Preliminary data indicate that the third stage and the Mexican satellite may fall in the Chita region. The emergencies ministry has been notified," a source told Interfax news agency.

This is the second failed space mission for Roscosmos in less than a month. Exactly a year ago, another Proton-M rocket and its payload were destroyed after ground crews lost contact with it.

The Proton-M is known as a workhorse but has had numerous problems in its decades of service. The satellite, MexSat-1, was built by Boeing for the Mexican government.

Saturday's launch was initially scheduled for April 29, but was postponed at Boeing's request for additional testing on the satellite.