Soyuz rocket crew rescued after emergency landing

Rescuers have reached the site of the Russian "Soyuz" spacecraft's emergency landing, Interfax and TASS news agencies reported on Thursday, citing military officials.

The booster rocket carrying a Soyuz spacecraft with a Russian and US astronaut on board headed for the International Space Station failed mid-air on Thursday, forcing the crew to make an emergency landing.

The rocket was carrying US astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin. Footage from inside the Soyuz showed the two men being shaken around at the moment the failure occurred, with their arms and legs flailing.

TRT World's Sarah Morice reports.

The rocket was launched from the Soviet-era cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. A Reuters reporter who observed the launch from around 1 kilometre away said it had gone smoothly in its initial stages and that the failure of the booster rockets must have occurred at higher altitude.

Russian news agencies reported that the crew had safely made an emergency landing and were in radio contact and that rescuers were en route to pick them up.

The Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities known as Roscosmos had earlier tweeted pictures of the astronauts taking their place in the rocket.

Russia's Interfax news agency had said the crew is in good condition and require no immediate medical help while NASA had earlier said help is on the way.

"Search and rescue teams are in the air and heading towards the expected touchdown location for the Soyuz spacecraft returning to Earth carrying two crew members," NASA said in a statement.

The Kremlin confirmed the men had survived. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists: "Thank God the cosmonauts are alive".