latimes:

Tragedy in Russia: Hundreds have been reported injured after a meteorite exploded midair near the city of Chelyabinsk in Russia’s Ural Mountains Friday. Said Nadezhda Golovko, deputy head of Chelyabinsk Secondary School No. 130:

When I saw some white narrow cloud moving outside the window I ran up to it and saw a huge blinding flash. It was like the way I would imagine a nuclear bomb. At first, there was no sound at all as if I suddenly went deaf

Russian authorities have rushed to the scene in mass, assessing damage and making sure there’s no increase in radiation levels as a result of the impact.

Read more about the impact over at World Now.

(Photos via Nasha Gazeta / www.ng.kz / Associated Press, Oleg Kargopolov / AFP/Getty Images, Chelyabinsk.ru / Associated Press)