Meteorite Fall in Russia Injures over 500
Environment | February 15, 2013, Friday| 817 views
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The meteorite passes over the city of Chelyabinsk. Photo by RIA Novosti.
Over 510 people have sought medical assistance after a meteorite fell on Russia's central Chelyabinsk Oblast Friday morning.
112 of them have been hospitalized, reports ITAR-TASS, with three persons reported as "gravely injured".
Initially believed to be caused by a strong meteorite shower, the incident was later supposed to be the fall of debris from a single meteorite that fell apart and burned in the atmosphere.
In the town of Satka and city of Chelyabinsk, windows were broken and more extensive damage to at least one building has been caused.
The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations has issued an assessment saying damage has been caused by the shockwave of the meteorite's explosion.
No fragments from the body have been confirmed as recovered onground yet.
Most of the people who have sought medical assistance have been cut by broken glass.
Residents of neighboring Tyumen, Kurgan and Sverdlovsk oblasts, as well as people in northern Kazakhstan, have also witnessed the phenomenon.
Authorities have issued a call on citizens that there is no ground to panic.
Requisite agencies are determining the exact nature and identity of the cosmic body.
The Chelyabinsk Region of Russia is located east of the Urals, on the border between Europe and Asia.
Tags: Kazakhstan, Russia, Chelyabinsk, meteorite, Urals
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