MetaBOT at 18:53, 8 July 2023

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{{update|date=June 2022}}
On February 8, 2016, a number of media outlets reported that a bus driver had been killed and three others injured by a possible [[meteorite]] fall in [[Tamil Nadu]], India. A falling object reportedly left a crater {{convert|4|ft||}} deep and smashed windows on the campus of [[Bharathidasan Engineering College]], in addition to inflicting the injuries.<ref name="wsj">{{cite news |last1=Auger |first1=Monika |title=Authorities: Meteorite Killed Man in India |url=https://www.cnn.com/2016/02/10/asia/india-meteorite-man-killed/index.html |access-date=29 April 2021 |work=Wall Street Journal |date=8 February 2016}}</ref><ref name="zee">{{cite news |work=ZeeNews |title=It was meteorite that killed a person in Vellore: Study |url=https://zeenews.india.com/news/tamil-nadu/it-was-meteorite-that-killed-a-person-in-vellore-study_1855995.html |access-date=29 April 2021 |date=9 February 2016}}</ref> Others in the area reported hearing an unusual sound and seeing a smoke stripe, and police reported finding rock fragments embedded in the driver's body.<ref name="phys-org">{{cite web |title=Scientists study India's deadly 'meteorite' (Update) |url=https://phys.org/news/2016-02-scientists-india-deadly-meteorite.html |website=phys.org |access-date=29 April 2021}}</ref>

A small ({{convert|11|g||}}<ref name="abc">{{cite news |title=Astrophysicists analyse 'meteorite' that killed bus driver, shattered windows in India |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-10/scientists-study-deadly-meteorite-india/7154232 |access-date=29 April 2021 |work=ABC News |date=9 February 2016}}</ref>) blue object was recovered from the scene that attracted a magnet, and some experts suggested it could be a fragment of a space vehicle.<ref name="phys-org"/> Authorities suspected an explosion of abandoned [[Gelignite|gelatine]] sticks, but no traces of explosives were found. Dipankar Banerjee of the [[Indian Institute of Astrophysics]] expressed skepticism that the object was a meteorite,<ref name="NIE">{{cite news |last1=Chandrashekar |first1=Nandini |title=Vellore Rock Unlikely to Be A Meteorite, Says Astro Prof |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2016/feb/07/Vellore-Rock-Unlikely-to-Be-A-Meteorite-Says-Astro-Prof-889568.html |access-date=29 April 2021 |work=The New Indian Express |date=7 February 2016}}</ref> as did Lindley Johnson, [[NASA]]'s planetary defense officer.<ref name="nyt">{{cite news |last1=Hauser |first1=Christine |title=That Wasn’t a Meteorite That Killed a Man in India, NASA Says |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/10/world/asia/that-wasnt-a-meteorite-that-killed-a-man-in-india-nasa-says.html |access-date=29 April 2021 |work=New York Times |date=9 February 2016}}</ref> Other experts concluded that a meteorite so small could not have created a crater as large as the one reported.<ref name="abc"/>

Officials of the [[National College, Tiruchirapalli]], insisted that the object was a [[carbonaceous chondrite]] meteorite and designated it as BEC 1.<ref name="zee"/>

If the object was a meteorite, the incident would be the first confirmed death of a human due to a meteorite in recorded history.<ref name="wsj"/><ref name="abc"/>

==See also==
*[[List of unsolved deaths]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{#seo:
|keywords=Meteorites, Unsolved deaths
|description=
}}

[[Category:Meteorites]]
[[Category:Unsolved deaths]]

{{geology-stub}}

2016 February Tamil Nadu meteorite incident - Revision history

MetaBOT at 18:53, 8 July 2023