According to China's space agency, the remnants of a rocket hurtling back towards Earth have crashed into the Indian Ocean.

The majority of the rocket was destroyed when it re-entered the atmosphere, but debris landed just west of the Maldives on Sunday, according to state media.

The location of the rocket's landing has been a source of speculation for days, and US officials and other experts have cautioned that its return could result in casualties.

China, on the other hand, maintained that the risk was minimal.

State media announced on Sunday that the Long March-5b vehicle re-entered the atmosphere at 10:24 Beijing time (02:24 GMT), citing the Chinese Manned Space Engineering office. There were no injuries or property damage reported.

It said debris from the 18-tonne rocket crashed in the Indian Ocean at 72.47° East and 2.65° North, making it one of the largest objects to have an undirected dive into the atmosphere in decades.

Meanwhile, the US Space Command clearly stated that the rocket had "re-entered over the Arabian Peninsula." It said it was "unknown whether the debris [had] impacted land or water," rather than confirming the landing site mentioned by Chinese media.

The rocket was captured above Saudi Arabia before falling into the Indian Ocean near the Maldives, according to Space-Track, a tracking service that uses US military data.