- Title: RUSSIA: Up to 500 people injured in meteor shower
- Date: 15th February 2013
- Summary: DOCTOR TREATING CHILD
- Embargoed: 2nd March 2013 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Afghanistan, Russian Federation
- City:
- Country: Afghanistan
- Topics: Disasters,Science,Space
- Reuters ID: LVA2D0W71D877XGERA27KLHLYQCM
- Story Text: About 500 people are injured after a meteorite shot across the sky in central Russia sending fireballs crashing to Earth.
Almost 500 people were injured when a meteorite shot across the sky in central Russia on Friday (February 15) sending fireballs crashing to Earth, smashing windows and setting off car alarms.
The Russian Emergencies Ministry reported 475 people sought medical help. Earlier the Russian news agency Interfax cited an interior ministry report that up to 500 had been injured.
Chelyabinsk city authorities said people sought medical help, mainly for light injuries caused by flying glass.
"The wounds that the we people received have are mainly incised and contused wounds, all due to windows and window frames all breaking and flying around. And you see the result - how many people are here. We've already treated 60 or 70 people, and we still have a corridor full of people," said a surgeon from Chelyabinsk Hospital No.1. Vladimir Basmannikov.
Residents on their way to work in Chelyabinsk heard what sounded like an explosion, saw a bright light and then felt a shockwave, according to a Reuters correspondent in the industrial city 1,500 km (950 miles) east of Moscow.
The meteorite raced across the horizon, leaving a long white trail in its wake which could be seen as far as 200 km (125 miles) away in Yekaterinburg. Car alarms went off, windows shattered and mobile phones worked only intermittently.
No fatalities were reported but President Vladimir Putin, who was due to host finance ministry officials from the Group of 20 nations in Moscow, and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev were informed.
A local ministry official said the meteor shower may have been connected with an asteroid the size of an Olympic swimming pool that was due to pass Earth at a distance of 27,520 km (17,100 miles) but this could not be confirmed.
Such incidents are rare. A meteorite is thought to have devastated an area of more than 2,000 sq km (1,250 miles) in Siberia in 1908, smashing windows as far as 200 km (125 miles) from the point of impact.
The emergencies ministry described Friday's event as a "meteor shower in the form of fireballs" and said background radiation levels were normal. It urged residents not to panic.
Chelyabinsk city authorities urged people to stay indoors unless they needed to pick up their children from schools and kindergartens. They said a blast had been heard at an altitude of 10,000 metres (32,800 feet), apparently signalling it occurred when the meteorite entered Earth's atmosphere.
The U.S. space agency NASA has said an asteroid known as 2012 DA14, about 46 metres in diameter, would have an encounter with Earth closer than any asteroid since scientists began routinely monitoring them about 15 years ago.
Television, weather and communications satellites fly about 500 miles (800 km) higher. The moon is 14 times farther away. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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