Russian officials say a meteorite has fallen in the Chelyabinsk region some 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) east of Moscow.
A spokesman for the Russian Interior Ministry, Vadim Kolesnikov, said the Friday morning fall caused a blast that broke windows.
There were no immediate confirmed reports of injuries, but Russian news agencies cited unnamed sources as saying several people were injured at a school in a thinly populated part of the region, which is on the eastern edge of the Ural Mountains.
The fall caused explosions that broke glass over a wide area. The Emergency Ministry says more than 500 people sought treatment after the blasts and that 34 of them were hospitalized.
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Earlier Story:
News organization "Russia Today" is reporting 100 people have been injured in connection with the meteor that fell in the Chelyabinsk region. But all 100 are said to have what are being called minor injuries.
Local emergency managers on the ground in Chelyabinsk report the meteor hit a zinc production factory, which led to a fire. The fire is now mostly out but there is a massive hole in one wall and part of the roof where it looks like something has made impact.
There are problems being reported in the city with both Internet service and cell phone service.
Emergency managers have dispatched at least three aircraft to view the existing damage and look for any another signs of damage in other parts of the area.
The sonic boom created by the meteor broke windows across the area and caused car alarms and other types of security alarms to go off.
Police in the region have been placed on high alert. Parents in the region have been told to pick their children up from school and to take them home and stay there.
There is a nuclear power plant northwest of Chelyabinsk. There are no reports of any problems at the plant.
UPDATE: 2:26AM (via the Associated Press)
MOSCOW (AP) - A meteor streaked across the sky above Russia's Ural Mountains on Friday morning, causing sharp explosions and injuring more than 400 people, many of them hurt by broken glass.
Fragments of the meteor fell in a thinly populated area of the Chelyabinsk region, the Emergency Ministry said in a statement.
Interior Ministry spokesman Vadim Kolesnikov said more than 400 people had sought medical treatment after the blasts, and at least three had been hospitalized in serious condition. Many of the injuries were from glass broken by the explosions.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
This eyewitness picture shows the meteor as it entered the atmosphere over the Chelyabinsk region, just east of Moscow.
This picture from news organization "Russia Today" shows a factory which authorities say was hit by the meteor.
This picture, also from the news organization Russia Today, shows a building in the Chelyabinsk region with its windows blown out; the result of a massive sonic boom that resulted from the meteor coming into Earth's atmosphere.
This picture shows a damaged car garage in the city of Chelyabinsk. Picture taken by Pavel Berlet.
This picture shows several windows blown out of a building in Chelyabinsk. Picture taken by Pavel Berlet.
