Meteor hits Russia

A meteor has fallen over Russia - injuring 500 people and damaging buildings.

Most of those people hurt only suffered minor cuts and bruises but windows were blown out of buildings.

A fireball was seen racing through the sky above the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, followed by loud bangs.

Reports say that the meteor landed in a lake near Chebarkul, a town in the neighbouring Chelyabinsk region.

Thousands of rescue workers have now arrived in the area to provide help.

Officials say fragments falling from a large meteor that partially burned up in the lower atmosphere caused the damage.

Debris also reportedly fell on the west Siberian region of Tyumen.

Asteroids, meteors and meteorites

• Asteroids are small bodies that orbit the Sun as the Earth does
• Larger asteroids are called planetoids or minor planets, smaller ones often called meteoroids
• Once any of these enters our planet's atmosphere, it becomes a meteor
• Many meteors break into pieces or burn up entirely as they speed through the atmosphere
• Once meteors or fragments actually impact the surface, they become meteorites

Fom CBBC