"Mystery illness strikes after meteorite hits Peruvian village"

[ND66]

Who took that massive dump?!

Mystery illness strikes after meteorite hits Peruvian village



Villagers in southern Peru were struck by a mysterious illness after a meteorite made a fiery crash to Earth in their area, regional authorities said Monday.

Around midday Saturday, villagers were startled by an explosion and a fireball that many were convinced was an airplane crashing near their remote village, located in the high Andes department of Puno in the Desaguadero region, near the border with Bolivia.

Residents complained of headaches and vomiting brought on by a "strange odor," local health department official Jorge Lopez told Peruvian radio RPP.

Seven policemen who went to check on the reports also became ill and had to be given oxygen before being hospitalized, Lopez said.

Rescue teams and experts were dispatched to the scene, where the meteorite left a 100-foot-wide (30-meter-wide) and 20-foot-deep (six-meter-deep) crater, said local official Marco Limache.

"Boiling water started coming out of the crater and particles of rock and cinders were found nearby. Residents are very concerned," he said.

[NetSnake]

link with image

[Dr Mordrid]

The giveaway is the "boiling water", which is far more likely gas bubbles than steam. If so there are incidents where such releases have killed entire villages.

Looks marshy so it could be methane from plant decomposition, but a shallow natural gas pocket or small volcanic tube just under the bedrock can't be ruled out with that size impact.

[Nowhere]

Yep, also my thoughts - something like that oversaturated with CO2 (not sure if CO2...) lake in Africa which, when disturbed, killed villages below.

[Dr Mordrid]

There are numerous examples of CO2 releases especially in volcanic, or even extinct volcanic, regions or where methane deposits have collected. Very often all that's kept the gas in place is a lakes bottom or thin bedrock, and a meteor that big would disrupt either.

Looking at the Puno region in Google Earth it looks a lot like the village in Africa; villages near a large, deep lake (Lake Titicaca).

Just thought of another possibility; some meteors have high levels of sulfur and other compounds which together can react with ground water to produce gases that in all likelihood are not compatible with humans