[meteorite-list] Up to 200 Made Ill By 'Fumes' From Meteor in Peru

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2007 08:50:44 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <200709191550.IAA28308_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1592

Up to 200 made ill by 'fumes' from meteor
by John Pickrell
COSMOS Magazine
19 September 2007

SYDNEY: Scientists are perplexed by a meteorite strike in Peru near Lake
Titicaca that has left a 20-metre-wide crater and is reported to have
produced fumes that made up to 200 people sick.

News agencies have reported that scores of locals in the farming village
of Carancas began vomiting and complaining of headaches and dizziness
after the rock crashed to Earth on Saturday creating an eight-meter-deep
crater.

Local residents said they heard an explosion and felt the ground shake
as the meteorite impacted with the ground. Pictures showed a muddy pool
of water inside the crater.

Extreme health effects

Police officers who went to crater were given oxygen and taken to
hospital after suffering from similar symptoms. A local scientist said
that fumes from the crater are so strong that he felt irritation in his
nose and throat even though he was wearing a mask.

A local health ministry official, Jorge Lopez, said none of the patients
were seriously ill, but that they would have to undergo blood and
neurological tests as a precaution. A medical facility was installed in
Carancas to treat the patients, and "if necessary, some will be sent to
hospitals in Puno," the nearest big city, he said.

Peruvian Nuclear Energy Institute engineer Renan Ramirez said a team of
scientists found no radiation at the crash site and confirmed that a
fallen satellite did not create the crater. Ramirez speculated that
sulphur, arsenic or other toxins that melted in the extreme heat
produced by the meteorite strike might have caused the illnesses that
struck the local population.

"What an amazing story ... I've never heard of any such extreme health
effects associated with a meteorite fall before," said geoscientist Ross
Pogson, manager of the mineralogy collection at the Australian Museum in
Sydney. It's unlikely that any noxious gases have come from the
meteorite itself, he said, "[But] it's possible that gases could have
been released due to effects of heat and pressure on disrupted rocks
under the crater."

Noxious contenders

Pogson said he could only speculate on the nature of these gases, but
possible contenders include sulphur, sulphur dioxide, chlorine, carbon
dioxide and carbon monoxide.

According to meteorite experts, this appears to be a unique event. No
other meteorites have been recorded releasing toxic gases. "Getting hit
on the head by one wouldn't be good, but I've never heard of any adverse
health effects related to gases released by meteorites before," said
Alex Bevan Australia's top expert on meteorites at the Western
Australian Museum in Perth.

"There's something not quite right about this," he added, arguing that
it's even a possibility that the sighting of the fireball in the sky and
the subsequent ground tremor and explosion that created the crater are
unrelated events.

Bevan said he is waiting for more detailed reports from Peruvian
scientists - due to be released later this week - and images of any
fragments of the meteorite before he attempts to make an more
comprehensive assessment.

with Agence France-Presse

----------------------------------------------------------

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7001897.stm

Scores ill in Peru 'meteor crash'
BBC News
September 19, 2007

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.

People who visited the scene have been complaining of headaches,
vomiting and nausea after inhaling gases.

But some experts have questioned whether it was a meteorite or some
other object that landed in Carancas.

"Increasingly we think that people witnessed a fireball, which are not
uncommon, went off to investigate and found a lake of sedimentary
deposit, which may be full of smelly, methane rich organic matter," said
Dr Caroline Smith, a meteorite expert at the London-based Natural
History Museum.

"This has been mistaken for a crater."

A team of scientists is on its way to the site to collect samples and
verify whether it was indeed a meteorite.

Geologists have called on the authorities to stop people going near the
crash site.

A local journalist, Martine Hanlon, told the BBC experts did not believe
the meteor would make anybody sick, but they did think a chemical
reaction caused by its contact with the ground could release toxins such
as sulphur and arsenic.

An engineer from the Peruvian Nuclear Energy Institute told AFP news
agency that no radiation had been detected from the crater. He ruled out
any possibility that the fallen object might be a satellite.

Afraid

Nestor Quispe, the mayor of the municipality to which Carancas belongs,
told the BBC that many residents had been affected.

"Lots of people from the town of Carancas have fallen ill. They have
headaches, eye problems, irritated skin, nausea and vomiting," he said.

"I think there's also a certain psychological fear in the community."

Local resident Heber Mamani said a bull and some other animals had
become ill.

"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 took place on Saturday night, when people near Carancas in
the remote Puno region, some 1,300km (800 miles) south of the Peruvian
capital, 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 crater spewed what officials described as fetid, noxious gases.

Jorge Lopez, a health director in Puno, told Reuters news agency he had
an irritated throat and itchy nose after visiting the site.
Received on Wed 19 Sep 2007 11:50:44 AM PDT