’Meteorite’ kills Indian driver, injures 3

CHENNAI: Indian authorities say a falling object that killed a bus driver and injured three others was a meteorite. If proven, it would be the first such death in recorded history. Experts said other explanations were possible for the incident Saturday in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. The impact of the object left a five-foot-deep crater in the ground, according to the Times of India, and shattered window panes in a nearby building, killing the driver who was walking past. The object weighed only 11 grams, the newspaper added, about as heavy as an AAA battery. Images in local media showed a bluish rock, which Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Jayaram described as a “meteorite” — although scientists say this has not yet been proved. “A meteorite fell at a private engineering college... and claimed the life of a college bus driver,” said the chief minister in a statement, expressing “shock.” AFP