Friday, February 15, 2013

Meteorite Falls in Russian Urals


EUROPE NEWS
Updated February 15, 2013, 2:23 a.m. ET


Associated Press

MOSCOW—A meteor flew across the skies above Russia's Ural Mountains Friday morning, causing sharp explosions and injuring about 100 people, including many who were hurt by broken glass.

Fragments of the meteor fell in a thinly populated area of the Chelyabinsk region, the Emergency Ministry said in a statement.



Reuters

A contrail above an apartment block in the Urals city of Chelyabinsk; Russian officials said a meteorite or a shower of meteorites fell in the area, collapsing one roof and causing more than 100 injuries.

Interior Ministry spokesman Vadim Kolesnikov said 102 people had called for medical assistance following the incident, mostly for treatment of injuries from glass broken by the explosions.

Reports are conflicted on what happened in the clear skies. A spokeswoman for the Emergency Ministry, Irina Rossius, said there was a meteor shower, but another ministry spokeswoman, Elena Smirnikh, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying it was a single meteorite.

Kolsenikov said about 600 square meters (6,500 square feet) of a roof at a zinc factory had collapsed.

Amateur video broadcast on Russian television showed an object speeding across the sky about 9:20 a.m. local time, leaving a thick white contrail and an intense flash.


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