www射-国产免费一级-欧美福利-亚洲成人福利-成人一区在线观看-亚州成人

   

Experts confirm meteorite crash in Peru

(AP)
Updated: 2007-09-20 10:35

Lima, Peru - A fiery meteorite crashed into southern Peru over the weekend, experts confirmed on Wednesday. But they were still puzzling over claims that it gave off fumes that sickened 200 people.


People watch a crater in Carangas, Puno, Peru, Monday, Sept. 17, 2007, caused by a supposed meteorite that crashed in southern Peru over the weekend causing hundreds of people to suffer headaches, nausea and respiratory problems, a health official said Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2007. [AP] 

Local residents told reporters that a fiery ball fell from the sky and smashed into the desolate Andean plain near the Bolivian border Saturday morning.

Jose Mechare, a scientist with Peru's Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Institute, said a geologist had confirmed that it was a "rocky meteorite," based on the fragments analyzed.

He said water in the meteorite's muddy crater boiled for maybe 10 minutes from the heat and could have given off a vapor that sickened people, and scientists were taking water samples.

"We are not completely certain that there was no contamination," Mechare said.

Jorge Lopez, director of the health department in the state where the meteorite crashed, said on Tuesday that 200 people suffered headaches, nausea and respiratory problems caused by "toxic" fumes emanating from the crater, which is some 65 feet wide and 15 feet deep.

But a team of doctors who reached the isolated site said Wednesday they found no evidence the meteorite had sickened people.

Doctors at the site said that they had found no sign of radioactive contamination among families living nearby. But they said they had taken samples of blood, urine and hair to analyze.

Peasants living near the crater said they had smelled a sulfurous odor for at least an hour after the meteorite struck and that it had provoked upset stomachs and headaches.

But Jose Isisuka, a geologist for the institute who was studying the crater, said he doubted the reports of a sulfurous smell.

Modesto Montoya, a member of the medical team, was quoted by Lima daily El Comercio as saying fear may have provoked psychosomatic ailments.

"When a meteorite falls, it produces horrid sounds when it makes contact with the atmosphere," he told the paper. "It is as if a giant rock is being sanded. Those sounds could have frightened them."

Justina Limache, 74, told El Comercio that when she heard the thunderous roar from the sky, she abandoned her flock of alpacas and ran to her small home with her 8-year-old granddaughter. She said that after the meteorite struck, small rocks rained down on the roof of her house for several minutes and she feared the house was going to collapse.

Meteor expert Ursula Marvin said that if people were sickened, "it wouldn't be the meteorite itself, but the dust it raises."

A meteorite "wouldn't get much gas out of the earth," said Marvin, who has studied the objects since 1961 at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Massachusetts. "It's a very superficial thing."

Three geologists from Peru's Geophysics Institute are expected to report on the incident on Thursday.

Hernando Tavera, a geophysicist at the institute, said similar cases were reported in 2002 and 2004 elsewhere in southern Peru but were never confirmed as meteorites.

 



Top World News  
Today's Top News  
Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours
主站蜘蛛池模板: 中文字幕在线播放 | 精品自拍视频在线观看 | 香蕉久久夜色精品国产尤物 | 91精品啪在线观看国产91九色 | 美国毛片免费看 | 美女一丝不佳一级毛片香蕉 | 欧美一级毛片兔费播放 | 久久精品国产精品亚洲人人 | 手机看片国产欧美日韩高清 | 新26uuu在线亚洲欧美 | 国产精品亚洲第一区二区三区 | 一级国产a级a毛片无卡 | 美女让我桶 | 亚洲一级免费视频 | 国产福利最新手机在线观看 | 久久久久亚洲精品中文字幕 | 中文国产成人精品久久无广告 | 一区不卡在线观看 | 国内精品免费一区二区三区 | 亚洲一区二区欧美 | 精品亚洲福利一区二区 | a级片观看 | 一区二区三区四区五区六区 | 视频二区精品中文字幕 | 久久依人 | 免费看a级| 国产黄色片一级 | 国产视频二区在线观看 | 国产亚洲高清视频 | 手机看片在线精品观看 | 亚洲综合黄色 | 在线视频久| 久久久久久毛片免费播放 | 欧美一级片 在线播放 | 久久国产精品免费一区二区三区 | 欧美视频精品在线观看 | 亚洲手机看片 | 日本一级在线播放线观看免 | 成人软件网18免费视频 | 黄色毛片视频在线观看 | 亚洲国产精品第一区二区三区 |