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Scores ill in Peru 'meteor crash' Scores ill in Peru 'meteor crash'
(about 3 hours later)
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.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.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.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.A team of scientists is on its way to the site to collect samples and verify whether it was indeed a meteorite.
'Afraid' Geologists have called on the authorities to stop people going near the crash site.
"It [the object] is buried in the earth," local resident Heber Mamani told the BBC. Afraid
"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. Local resident Heber Mamani said a bull and some other animals had become ill.
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. "That is why we are asking for an analysis, because we are worried for our people. They are afraid," he said.
Another local villager, Romulo Quispe, said people were worried that the water was no longer safe to drink.
"This is the water we use for the animals, and for us, for everyone, and it looks like it is contaminated," he said.
"We don't know what is going on at the moment, that is what we are worried about."
The incident began on Saturday night, when people near Carancas in the remote 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 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.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. Jorge Lopez, a health director in Puno, told Reuters news agency that he got an irritated throat and itchy nose after visiting the site.
Renan Ramirez said: "It is a conventional meteorite that, when it struck, produced gases by fusing with elements of the terrain." A local journalist, Martine Hanlon, told the BBC that experts did not believe the meteor would make anybody sick, but they did think that a chemical reaction caused by its contact with the ground could release toxins such as sulphur and arsenic.
The gases are believed to have affected the health of hundreds of people who visited the site. An engineer from the Peruvian Nuclear Energy Institute told AFP news agency no radiation had been detected from the crater and ruled out the fallen object being a satellite.
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.