Bus Driver in India May Have Been Killed by a Meteorite
Posted on February 8, 2016
A man in Tamil Nadu, a southeast Indian state, was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The bus driver, named Kamaraj, was killed by something that fell from the sky. The man died from his injuries on the way to the hospital. Reuters is reporting that Indian scientists are investigating the incident as a suspected meteorite death.
Reuters also says a "dark blue stone resembling a diamond was found at the scene." The incident occurred at a college. Government officials initially suspected an explosive device was set off on the college campus but no explosive material or residue was found.
G. Baskar, the principal of the college told Reuters, "t was a sound like nothing I've ever heard before. There was no smell at all, no fire, nothing."
The last reported death of a human from a meteorite was nearly 200 years ago in 1825 according to the International Comet Quarterly. The Chelyabinsk meteor impact in Russia in 2012 injured over 1,200 people but there were no recorded fatalities.
CNN reports that two gardeners and a student at the college were also injured. They are being treated at a local hospital. CNN also says the windows of buses on the campus were shattered.