LIMA (Peru) Sept 19 (Bloomberg): A possible meteorite strike may have sickened more than 150 people in southern Peru, the country's health ministry said.
People who ventured near the site of the Sep. 15 strike by the ``supposed'' meteorite were affected by dizziness, vomiting and skin lesions, the ministry said yesterday in a statement on its Web site. Among the people afflicted were eight police officers who went to the crater near the southeastern towns of Carancas and Desaguadero, the ministry said.
The object that crashed to Earth created a crater 15 meters (50 feet) wide and 5 meters deep, the ministry said. Locals said they became ill after handling a luminous substance at the site that they thought might be valuable, according to the statement.
``Blood tests are being carried out on most of the patients to determine what they're suffering from,'' the ministry said. ``Specialists in epidemiology and environmental health are already in the area to collect samples of the supposed meteorite for analysis.''
Peru meteorite may have sickened 150 people
FE Team | Published: September 20, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
Share if you like