Meteorite hits Cambodia, sparks fires

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/0...eut/index.html

Unbelievable! That is the last thing Cambodia needed. At least it
didn't land in Phnom Penh and kill a bunch of people.
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Meteorite hits Cambodia, sparks fires


PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (Reuters) -- A 4.5 kg (10 lb) meteorite which
landed in a former Khmer Rouge zone of northwest Cambodia started fires
across rice fields and prayers from villagers who saw it as a divine
omen of peace.

"Some farmers are angry with the rock because it caused fires and
destroyed several hundred hectares of their paddy fields," said Sok
Sareth, police chief of Banteay Meanchey province, around 200 miles
northwest of the capital, Phnom Penh.

"But others asked the police to leave it where it landed and put it on
shrine to pray for peace," he told Reuters on Wednesday.

The black lump of celestial rock sent villagers scurrying for cover
when it thumped into the ground in the war-scarred southeast Asian
nation on Monday morning.

"It made a noise like a bomb exploding," Sok Sareth said. "It's a good
thing it didn't land in the village or people could have been killed."

Pictures of the meteorite were splashed across newspapers in the
capital, but the item itself has been carried away by police pending
scientific analysis.

Initial investigations by explosives experts still clearing the bombs
and mines left behind from Cambodia's years of civil war against Pol
Pot's guerrillas have not yielded many results.

"I asked my friend who works as deminer, but he has no idea what the
rock is," Sok Sareth said.

Wayne A. Hazle
http://www.waynehazle.com/

"IndyHazle" wrote in message
oups.com...


http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/0...eut/index.html

Unbelievable! That is the last thing Cambodia needed. At least it
didn't land in Phnom Penh and kill a bunch of people.

Make it into a shrine. Tens of thousands of pilgrims and tourists will
come. Make tons of money.

----------
Meteorite hits Cambodia, sparks fires


PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (Reuters) -- A 4.5 kg (10 lb) meteorite which
landed in a former Khmer Rouge zone of northwest Cambodia started fires
across rice fields and prayers from villagers who saw it as a divine
omen of peace.

"Some farmers are angry with the rock because it caused fires and
destroyed several hundred hectares of their paddy fields," said Sok
Sareth, police chief of Banteay Meanchey province, around 200 miles
northwest of the capital, Phnom Penh.

"But others asked the police to leave it where it landed and put it on
shrine to pray for peace," he told Reuters on Wednesday.

The black lump of celestial rock sent villagers scurrying for cover
when it thumped into the ground in the war-scarred southeast Asian
nation on Monday morning.

"It made a noise like a bomb exploding," Sok Sareth said. "It's a good
thing it didn't land in the village or people could have been killed."

Pictures of the meteorite were splashed across newspapers in the
capital, but the item itself has been carried away by police pending
scientific analysis.

Initial investigations by explosives experts still clearing the bombs
and mines left behind from Cambodia's years of civil war against Pol
Pot's guerrillas have not yielded many results.

"I asked my friend who works as deminer, but he has no idea what the
rock is," Sok Sareth said.

Wayne A. Hazle
http://www.waynehazle.com/