Write a comment
A Frenchman has died apparently of dehydration after illegally entering the territory of Russia's Baikonur space base in Kazakhstan for "extreme" tourism, officials said this week.
"Our embassy... has been informed of the death of a French tourist. It has been mobilised to offer support to his family," a diplomatic source told AFP on Thursday, two days after Russian authorities announced the by AFP Staff Writers
Almaty, Kazakhstan (AFP) June 13, 2024
A Frenchman has died apparently of dehydration after illegally entering the territory of Russia's Baikonur space base in Kazakhstan for "extreme" tourism, officials said this week.
"Our embassy... has been informed of the death of a French tourist. It has been mobilised to offer support to his family," a diplomatic source told AFP on Thursday, two days after Russian authorities announced the death.
Russian investigators said earlier in a statement that they were looking into "the death of a 24-year-old French man on the territory of the cosmodrome".
The man appeared to have died of "dehydration in extremely hot and dry temperatures, complicated by chronic illnesses," the statement continued.
The man, accompanied by another Frenchman aged 27, had "illegally entered the cosmodrome".
They spent at least three days hiding from law enforcement at the facility, according to Russian investigators.
The surviving Frenchman was detained and then released following a hearing at a military court at Baikonur on Tuesday, a court official told AFP.
With its many abandoned Soviet-era space relics, the Baikonur cosmodrome has iconic status for "urban explorers" who like to access out-of-bounds sites, often illegally and at great risk.
An official from the investigative committee had told AFP on Tuesday that "there are extreme tourists who get detained here two or three times a year".
Among the most recent cases was that of British travel blogger Benjamin Rich, who has more than four million followers on YouTube. He was detained and fined for entering Baikonur in spring 2022.
The French YouTubers Le Grand JD and Hit the Road have also visited the hangars housing the Soviet Buran space shuttles.
To reach the hangars, the adventurers said in a video they had to walk for several days and nights through the Kazakh steppe, avoiding military patrols.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia has leased Baikonur from Kazakhstan.
The legendary base is where Yuri Gagarin -- the first man in space -- blasted off from in 1961.
The current lease runs out in 2050 and the Roscosmos space agency is continuing to send Russian and foreign crews to the International Space Station from Baikonur.
bk/dt/cad/bp
Related Links
Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News