Meteorite proves to be a hit in Peru

Credit: LA REPUBBLICA/AP

Researchers are examining a 17-metre-wide crater in southern Peru, looking for fragments of what is believed to be one of the largest meteorites to hit land in years.

The meteorite apparently plummeted to Earth on 15 September near the village of Carancas, west of Lake Titicaca on the Bolivian border. Scientists from Peru's Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Institute in Lima last week checked the crater (pictured), now filled with water, for debris from the object they described as a chondrite or stony meteorite.

People living near the impact complained of odd smells and illnesses, but some scientists speculated that the reported sickness may be group hysteria. They noted that objects that come from the sky have deep cultural significance to villagers.