Aussies in Maldives rattled by Chinese rocket debris

Male (Maldives), May 11

Australian cricketers, coaches and officials were rattled by the sonic boom of the Chinese rocket debris that crashed into the Indian Ocean on Sunday.

The Aussies, including Test stars Steve Smith, David Warner and Pat Cummins, are quarantining at a resort here after the IPL was postponed indefinitely.

“We heard the bang around 5.30 a.m. this morning (Sunday). Experts say the noise we heard is the crack in the atmosphere which sets off a wave of sound, not the actual impact of the rocket,” Warner told an Australian newspaper from Maldives.

The Aussies who were at the IPL when it was called off — numbering nearly 40 — were sent to the Maldives as there is a ban on direct flights from India to Australia due to the pandemic situation in India.

The contingent will fly back to Australia once it completes the quarantine period mandated by the country.

China had, on April 29, launched a module for setting up its first permanent space station in orbit and it was known that the rockets carrying the main module would re-enter earth’s atmosphere on Saturday or Sunday.

The China Manned Space Engineering Office had allayed global fears that the falling debris would cause any damage, saying that most of the debris would burn up in the atmosphere. — IANS