Deputy head of Rosaviacosmos heading for Baikonur

Following the accident deputy head of Rosaviacosmos (the Russian Aviation and Space Agency) Alexander Kuznetsov, who is in charge of the entire ground infrastructure of all Russian cosmodromes, has set for Baikonur on Monday morning. Kuznetsov is accompanied by a group of experts on ground services and infrastructure ensuring spacecraft launching, said a spokesman for the Russian space agency Konstantin Kreidenko. They will take part in establishing the causes of the accident - last Sunday the roof of the biggest assembly and testing hangar at the cosmodrome collapsed. The head of Rosaviacosmos will arrive at Baikonur a little later -- he will accompany Russia's science and technology minister Ilya Khlebanov. Seven construction workers from Kazakhstan and one from Belarus were on the roof of the 70-meter-tall hangar when it came crashing down. Experts believe "it is unlikely that any of them have survived", said Kreidenko. However specialists from the Emergency Situations Ministry hope against hope and are busy conducting rescue operations at the crash site. According to the latest data, the bodies of three construction workers had been found by 10.50, Moscow time. Rosaviacosmos specialists will investigate the causes of the accident.