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Four schoolchildren injured by glass shattered by falling meteorite

The meteorite itself has been found in a difficult-of-access area

CHELYABINSK, February 15 (Itar-Tass) -Four schoolchildren have been injured by shattered window glass broken by a meteorite in a Chelyabinsk school. The children have cuts. They are under the care of medical specialists, a medical source told Itar-Tass.

The Russian Interior Ministry said it was School No. 130 in Chelyabinsk.

A meteorite fell 80 km away from the city of Satka in the Chelyabinsk Region. Windows are broken in many buildings in Satka and also in Chelyabinsk, the Interior Ministry’s press centre reported.

The meteorite itself has been found in a difficult-of-access area.

Police in the region is placed on alert in connection with the emergency. Guard of key facilities is reinforced.

The head of the press service of the Russian Emergencies Ministry's Ural regional centre, Vadim Grebennikov, told Itar-Tass the meteorite shower went from Kazakhstan across southern areas of the Tyumen, Kurgan and Sverdlovsk regions. The territory is being examined. It will be established how many residential sites were hit, he said.

Itar-Tass correspondent Yevgeny Tkachenko reported from Chelyabinsk that a bright white flash was seen over the centre of the city at 07:30 Moscow time on Friday. A few seconds later, residents heard a blast. Window glass was shattered in three rooms in the Itar-Tass office. Witnesses saw a “tail” of white smoke in the sky. There were halts in mobile telephone communication.

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