SPACE STATION FIRE ALERT

MOSCOW: The International Space Station has had a fire scare in the latest of a series of accidents on board the ageing space platform.

The incident occurred in the Russian-built Zvezda module, which houses the living quarters for the crew, according to Roscosmos, the Russian space agency.

Oleg Novitsky, a Russian cosmonaut, saw and smelt smoke and Thomas Pesquet, a French astronaut, said the smell of burning plastic had spread beyond the Russian module to the US segment.

Roscosmos sought to quell concerns, saying all systems were back to normal and a planned space walk involving two cosmonauts would go ahead as scheduled overnight, Australian time.

A Russian space official warned last month of “irreparable” failures on board the ageing space station, including cracks in its structure.