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Peru hit by unidentified object from space: crater is releasing gas, hundreds of people are ill
Scores ill in Peru 'meteor crash'
Hundreds of people in Peru have needed treatment after an object from space - said to be a meteorite - plummeted to Earth in a remote area, officials say.
They say the object left a deep crater after crashing down over the weekend near the town of Carancas in the Andes.
People who have visited scene have been complaining of headaches, vomiting and nausea after inhaling gases.
A team of scientists is on its way to the site to collect samples and verify whether it was indeed a meteorite.
'Afraid'
"It [the object] is buried in the earth," local resident Heber Mamani told the BBC.
"That is why we are asking for an analysis because we are worried for our people. They are afraid. A bull is dead and some other animals are already sick," he said.
The incident began on Saturday night, when people near Carancas in the Puno region, some 1,300km (800 miles) south of Lima, reported seeing a fireball in the sky coming towards them.
The object then hit the ground, leaving a 30m (98ft) wide and 6m (20ft) deep crater.
The crater spewed what officials described as fetid, noxious gases.
An engineer from the Peruvian Nuclear Energy Institute told the AFP news agency no radiation had been detected from the crater and ruled out the fallen object being a satellite.
Renan Ramirez said: "It is a conventional meteorite that, when it struck, produced gases by fusing with elements of the terrain."
The gases are believed to have affected the health of hundreds of people who visited the site.
Most of the victims have been complaining of headaches, vomiting and nausea.
Honorio Campoblanco, one of Peru's leading geologists, called on the authorities to stop people going near the crash site.
SOURCE
BBC News, "Scores ill in Peru 'meteor crash'", 19 September 2007.
Scores ill in Peru 'meteor crash'
Hundreds of people in Peru have needed treatment after an object from space - said to be a meteorite - plummeted to Earth in a remote area, officials say.
They say the object left a deep crater after crashing down over the weekend near the town of Carancas in the Andes.
People who have visited scene have been complaining of headaches, vomiting and nausea after inhaling gases.
A team of scientists is on its way to the site to collect samples and verify whether it was indeed a meteorite.
'Afraid'
"It [the object] is buried in the earth," local resident Heber Mamani told the BBC.
"That is why we are asking for an analysis because we are worried for our people. They are afraid. A bull is dead and some other animals are already sick," he said.
The incident began on Saturday night, when people near Carancas in the Puno region, some 1,300km (800 miles) south of Lima, reported seeing a fireball in the sky coming towards them.
The object then hit the ground, leaving a 30m (98ft) wide and 6m (20ft) deep crater.
The crater spewed what officials described as fetid, noxious gases.
An engineer from the Peruvian Nuclear Energy Institute told the AFP news agency no radiation had been detected from the crater and ruled out the fallen object being a satellite.
Renan Ramirez said: "It is a conventional meteorite that, when it struck, produced gases by fusing with elements of the terrain."
The gases are believed to have affected the health of hundreds of people who visited the site.
Most of the victims have been complaining of headaches, vomiting and nausea.
Honorio Campoblanco, one of Peru's leading geologists, called on the authorities to stop people going near the crash site.
SOURCE
BBC News, "Scores ill in Peru 'meteor crash'", 19 September 2007.
