1,000 injured as meteor explodes over Russian city and crashes to earth

- Locals thought it was the end of the world- Residents tell of blinding flash and shock waves- Many injuries caused by flying glass
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Will Stewart6 November 2013

Nearly 1,000 people have been injured by a meteor that exploded in the sky over Russia's Ural mountains, blasting out countless windows.

The meteorite streaked across the sky in Kazakhstan and southern Siberia before exploding and breaking into fragments over the industrial city of Chelyabinsk in the Ural Mountains.

Its progress led to dramatic pictures which were flashed around the world, with locals initially fearing a plane crash or the end of the world.

“It was like from Armageddon movie when the meteorite rain started, I really thought it was doomsday,” Gulnara Dudka told the Siberian Times.

“It was so scary especially the explosion. It was very strong. I am speechless. It was so strong. My camera couldn’t reproduce how strong the bang was.”

Commuters going to work at about 9.20am reported the sky suddenly lighting up.

“I was driving to work, it was quite dark, but it suddenly became as bright as if it was day,” said Viktor Prokofiev, 36, who was several hundred miles away from the area where the meteorite hit the ground. “I felt like I was blinded by headlights,” he said.

In Chelyabinsk, morning traffic ground to a halt.

“There was a very bright flash and then two or three minutes later, we were knocked back by a shock wave,” a young man told Rossiya state television.

Teacher Valentina Nikolayeva, from School Number 15 in Chelyabinsk, said: “First there was an unreal light that lit up all the classrooms on the right side of the school.

“That kind of light doesn’t happen in life, only at the end of the world, then a trail appeared like from a plane but only 10 times bigger.

Regional emergencies official Yuri Burenko said: “At 0920 (0320 GMT) an object was observed above Chelyabinsk which flew by at great speed and left a trail behind. Within two minutes there were two bangs.

“The shockwave broke glass in Chelyabinsk and a number of other towns in the region."

As it broke into fragments the meteorite exploded with huge force, smashing windows in apartment blocks and schools. A roof at a zinc factory partially collapsed.

More than 500 people suffered injuries, mainly from flying glass, but only nine, including two children, were admitted to hospital.

The Russian authorities played down fears that a fragment of the meteorite — reckoned to be several metres in diameter — could have damaged one of many nuclear facilities in the Urals region. Officials insisted that radiation levels were normal.

Russia’s nuclear agency, Rosatom, said its facilities across the affected regions were functioning normally. The defence ministry also said none of its property had been damaged.

As seven planes scoured the ground for signs of damage, hundreds of soldiers ringed a lake close to Chebarkul where it is believed the main body of the space object came to rest.

“There is a massive hole in the ice,” said a witness. T

The strike on Russia came hours before an asteroid the size of an Olympic swimming pool was due to pass Earth at a distance of 17,100 miles. Scientists say it will cause no damage but some Russians feared the meteorite storm could be linked.

The Russian Emergencies Ministry, which dubbed the light show a “meteor shower in the form of fireballs”, urged residents not to panic. Schools and nurseries were closed in Chelyabinsk.

The meteor “was quite a large object with a mass of several dozen tonnes,” according to astronomer Sergei Smirnov of Pulkovo observatory.

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