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Russia halts the search for meteorite near ChelyabinskAFP CHELYABINSK, Russia -- Russian authorities halted their search Sunday for the meteorite that spectacularly struck the Urals last week, leaving about 1,200 people injured and damaging several thousand buildings.
February 18, 2013, 12:09 am TWN The 10-ton space rock streaked over the Chelyabinsk region in central Russia in a blinding fireball on Friday just as the world was braced for a close encounter with a large asteroid. Residents of Chelyabinsk, a city of 1.1 million and the center of Russia's heavy industry, were struggling to pick up the pieces and replace thousands of blown-out windows in time for Monday, when schools are set to reopen. Despite an intensive search of a frozen lake where fisherman found a large hole they thought was caused by the meteorite, no remnants have been found. With air temperatures around minus 17 degrees Celsius (1.4 degrees Farenheit), Russian divers spent Saturday scouring lake Chebarkul, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) from Chelyabinsk, but the emergency ministry has now decided to focus on repair works in the region instead, a spokesman told AFP.
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