Jaya says meteorite blast caused death at Vellore college

Chennai, February 7

A day after a man was killed and three others were injured in a mysterious explosion in Vellore, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today said it was a meteorite fall that caused the mishap.

“A mishap occurred yesterday when a meteorite fell in the campus of a private engineering college in Vellore district’s K Pantharappalli village...,” she said in a release here.

Condoling the death of a bus driver, Kamaraj, of the college in the incident, she announced a solatium of Rs1 lakh to his family and Rs25,000 each to the three injured persons from the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund.

“I have ordered the Vellore district administration and hospital officials to provide them best treatment,” she said. Window panes of the college buses and several glass planes of the building were damaged when the meteorite fell.

Kamaraj lost his life after the meteorite fell near him as he was walking past the building.

The meteorite fall caused an explosion. It also created a small crater near the building complex. PTI