A failed rocket launch in 1996 killed six people instead of what online rumors said to be "at least 500," China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) said Thursday.

On February 15, 1996 a Long March 3B rocket that carried a telecom satellite went out of control two seconds after takeoff due to an engineering defect. It crashed 22 seconds later on a hillside two kilometers from the launch pad at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, in Sichuan Province, killing six people and injuring 57, CASC said in a statement.

A Sina Weibo user called "Golden Soul" claimed on Tuesday that the China National Space Administration was trying to downplay the accident and hide hundreds of deaths. 

He also added a link to a video of the failed launch, which had allegedly been recently released by the Associated Press. The video showed some damaged houses near the launch center.

Another space company, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC),released a statement on its Weibo account on Wednesday saying that the Weibo post alleging that the failed rocket had crashed in a local neighborhood is "obviously" baseless, as it makes no sense to build a launch center near a residential area. 

The company said that residences were not allowed to be built near the launch center due to security concerns. They said the damaged houses showed in the picture were temporary accommodation for workers at the center, which were evacuated 12 hours before the launch. Due to safety concerns, all the residents alongside the launch route were evacuated as well, and the center's personnel took shelter underground.

The statement also said that the video clip was always available to the public rather than having just been released, and is used to educate new space program employees.

"Golden Soul" admitted that he had made a mistake. He was banned by Weibo from posting for 15 days as a punishment for spreading rumors, Beijing Youth Daily reported.