An American’s eyewitness account of the 1996 rocket accident at China’s Xichang spaceport, which killed six people and injured 57:
“What Campbell witnessed over the next few days has haunted him ever since. Like most veterans of the Intelsat-708 launch, he hasn’t discussed the event in public. I got to know him while gathering material for a book on the Russian space program, and during one of our many conversations, Campbell mentioned his participation in the 1996 launch. Then he went on to tell the whole story. When I asked why he was willing to talk about it now, he answered, ‘The truth shall set you free.’
“The night of the launch, Campbell and his colleagues at the hotel boarded vans and headed to the satellite processing building. As they passed the center’s main gate, they saw a crowd gathering outside to watch the liftoff. ‘Everybody was dressed in his or her best clothes,’ he recalls. ‘It was a party atmosphere. There were many dozens, if not hundreds, of people there.’ Despite the previous accidents, it seemed to Campbell that these people must have been accustomed to gathering at this spot to watch launches.”
