Meteor hits Russia

More than 400 people have been injured in Russia by an explosion caused by what seems to have been a meteor.

Reporter: <italic>Daniel Sandford</italic>

Report

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<bold>Eyewitnesses</bold> describe seeing a fireball <bold>curving</bold> through the clear sky, and an extremely <bold>intense</bold> light as it passed overhead.

It seems to have been a meteor, and left a white <bold>condensation</bold> <bold>trail</bold> behind it. A couple of minutes later there was a loud bang.

The shock wave from the blast blew out windows across the region round Chelyabinsk in the Ural mountains.

People who'd rushed to look out and see what was happening were injured by flying glass.

Everyone went outside to check their neighbours were OK, and the mobile phone network <bold>collapsed</bold>, briefly <bold>overwhelmed by the volume</bold> <bold> of</bold> calls.

Vocabulary

<link type="page"> <caption> Listen to the words</caption> <url href="http://http-ws.bbc.co.uk.edgesuite.net/mp3/learningenglish/2013/02/130215_witn_russia_meteor_words_130215_witn_russia_meteor_words_au_bb.mp3" platform="highweb"/> </link> <bold> </bold>

<bold>Eyewitnesses</bold>: saksi mata

<bold>curving</bold>: melengkung

<bold>intense</bold>: terang dan sangat kuat

<bold>condensation trail</bold>: garis di angkasa yang terbentuk dari uap air dan terlihat mengikuti suatu benda

<bold>shock wave</bold>: gelombang tekanan kuat yang disebabkan terjadinya ledakan

<bold>blew out</bold>: memecahkan, menghancurkan

<bold>collapsed</bold>: terputus

<bold>overwhelmed by</bold>: tidak bisa mengatasi

<bold>the volume of</bold>: sejumlah besar