Nearly 1,000 people injured as 10-tonne meteor in Russia causes blasts

Moscow, Feb 15: Nearly 1,000 people, including more than 200 children, were injured today in a freak incident when a meteor weighing about 10 tonnes streaked across the sky above Russia's Ural Mountains, creating panic as shockwaves blasted windows and rocked buildings.According to officials, 985 people have sought medical attention in the disaster area, 112 of whom have been hospitalised. Among the injured there over 200 children.Most of those hurt suffered minor cuts and bruises but some received head injuries, Russian officials said.Gas supplies were cut off to hundreds of homes in the Chelyabinsk region as a safety precaution and some 3,000 buildings were reported to have been damaged, Ria Novosti news agency quoted officials as saying.A fireball was seen streaking through the clear morning sky above the city of Yekaterinburg, followed by loud bangs, but much of the impact was felt in the city of Chelyabinsk, some 200 km south of Yekaterinburg.President Vladimir Putin said he thanked God no big fragments had fallen in populated areas.Putin also promised “immediate” aid for people affected, saying kindergartens and schools had been damaged, and work disrupted at industrial enterprises.Russian space agency Roskosmos has confirmed the object that crashed in the Chelyabinsk region is a meteorite. They said in a statement, “According to preliminary estimates, this space object is of non-technogenic origin and qualifies as a meteorite. It was moving at a low trajectory with a speed of about 30 km/second.”Asteroids are small bodies that orbit the Sun as the Earth does. Larger asteroids are called planetoids or minor planets and smaller ones are called meteoroids.The Russian Academy of Sciences estimates that the meteor weighed about 10 tonnes and entered the Earth's atmosphere at a speed of at least 54,000 kmph.It would have shattered about 30-50 km above ground, with most of the meteor burning up.Russian Army units found three meteorite debris impact sites, two of which are in an area near Chebarkul Lake, west of Chelyabinsk. The third site was found some 80 km further to the northwest, near the town of Zlatoust.The Russian army has joined the rescue operation. Army units are searching for meteorite debris in several places in Chelyabinsk region and in the neighbouring Tyumen region.The Emergency Ministry reported that 20,000 rescue workers are operating in the region. Three aircraft were deployed to survey the area and locate other possible impact locations.Radiation, chemical and biological protection units have been put on high alert in the area. As the explosion has occurred several kilometres above ground, a large ground area has to be thoroughly checked for radiation and other threats.At least one piece of the fallen object caused damage on the ground in Chelyabinsk. According to local reports, it crashed into a wall near a zinc factory, disrupting the city's Internet and mobile service.Witnesses said the explosion was so loud that it seemed like an earthquake and thunder had struck at the same time, and that there were huge trails of smoke across the sky. Others reported seeing burning objects fall to earth.Chelyabinsk resident Sergei Serskov told BBC News the city had felt like a “war zone” for 20 to 30 minutes.“I was in the office when suddenly I saw a really bright flash in the window in front of me,” he said.“Then I smelt fumes. I looked out the window and saw a huge line of smoke, like you get from a plane but many times bigger.”

Nearly 1,000 people injured as 10-tonne meteor in Russia causes blasts

Moscow, Feb 15: Nearly 1,000 people, including more than 200 children, were injured today in a freak incident when a meteor weighing about 10 tonnes streaked across the sky above Russia's Ural Mountains, creating panic

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