Officials Theorize Sulfur, Other Elements Produced Toxic Gas

It came from outer space. That's not just the tagline for a cheesy 1950s sci-fi schlock film... but apparently explains how hundreds of villagers in Peru became ill this weekend.

China's Xinhua news service reports a meteor impacted near the remote Andean village of Carancas, along Peru's border with Bolivia, on Saturday. The impact left an enormous crater... and left a foul odor in the air.

Video footage from the scene shows a 100-foot-wide crater, 20 feet deep, with a bubbling pool of water at the bottom.

"Boiling water started coming out of the crater, and particles of rock and cinders were found nearby," local official Marco Limache told Agence-France Press. 

That was strange enough. Limache adds soon after impact, persons nearby reported stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea... apparently connected to the foul smell. Authorities considered declaring a state of emergency; seven police officers were taken to the hospital, according to La Republica.

Radio Programas de Peru (RPP) adds villagers stopped drinking the water in the area, for fear it had been contaminated.

Meteors may contain sulfur and other elements that could have reacted with groundwater, causing the stinky gas. Investigators from Peru's Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Institute, or Ingemmet, are on their way to the village to test that theory, and evaluate the health risk.

Over 600 people have been affected by the gastro-astronomical event, RPP reported. Regional health director Jorge Lopez told Reuters his team has examined around 100 people who suffered vomiting and headaches so far.

"People are scared," he said. "We ourselves went near the crater, and now we've got irritated throats and itching noses."

FMI: www.ingemmet.gob.pe/