Tamil Nadu Man Killed by a Meteorite

The secret behind Saturday's meteorite that killed a man is a mystery yet to be unraveled. A man was killed and three others were injured on Saturday in what authorities believed to be a meteorite strike at a college campus in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. But others ventured some other explanations for it.

An unidentified object left a four-feet deep crater after falling near a cafeteria inside the Bharathidasan Engineering College campus at about 12.30 p.m, G. Baskar, principal of the college in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore district, said. “There was a noise like a big explosion,” said Mr. Baskar. “It was an abnormal sound that could be heard till at least 3 kilometers [about 2 miles] away,” he added.

According to Assistant Professor S. P. Rajaguru from Bangalore-based Astrophysics Institute, the stone may indeed be a meteorite, however, further tests need to be conducted in order to confirm this theory. If it turned to be true, it would be the first reported case in the world of a man killed this way.

"Most of meteorites never reach the surface of the planet because When a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere it burns up, often seen as the light phenomenon known as a shooting star", explained S. P. Rajaguru. On Monday, a new team of experts was expected there.

"It is more likely for you to be hit simultaneously by a tornado and a bolt of lighting and a hurricane" than by a meteorite, said Michael Reynolds, astronomer and meteorite expert.

In February 2013, a meteorite shower occurred in an inhabited area, that is the Russian city of Tcheliabinsk, in the Urals. A most unlikely catastrophe who left a hundred people injured but did not kill anyone.

Tamil Nadu man killed by 'meteorite' may be first in 200 years https://t.co/vxJhrPCHXk pic.twitter.com/d9d3mRlGfy

— NDTV (@ndtv) February 8, 2016