ANDROMEDA STRAIN

The meteorite, which left an impact crater 20m wide and 5m deep, is causing a wave of illness.

Peru meteorite crash 'causes mystery illness'

A meteorite has struck a remote part of Peru and carved a large crater that is emitting noxious odours and making villagers ill.

A fireball streaked across the Andean sky late on Saturday night and crashed into a field near Carancas, a sparsely populated highland wilderness near Lake Titicaca on the border with Bolivia, witnesses said.

The soil around the impact crater appeared to be scorched, with what appeared to be chunks of lead and silver around the site, and there was a "strange odour", a local health department official, Jorge López, told Peru's RPP radio.

Later the farmers complained of headaches and vomiting. Police who went to investigate the crater were also stricken with nausea, prompting authorities to dispatch a medical team that reached the site today. At least 12 people were treated in addition to seven police officers who required oxygen masks and rehydration.