Pieces of Russian meteor to be analyzed

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MOSCOW, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- The first fragment recovered from a meteor that exploded over central Russia last week has arrived in Moscow for analysis, officials say.

"This is the first piece, but it's not the only one our colleagues collected," Mikhail Nazarov, head of the science laboratory doing the analysis, told RIA Novosti.

After being weighed and photographed the fragment will undergo a detailed analysis, he said.

A shock wave shattered windows, damaged buildings and injured more than 1,000 people, when the estimated 50-foot meteor exploded over the city of Chelyabinsk Feb. 15.

Fragments of the meteor have been found under a 25-foot-wide hole in the ice covering the region's Lake Chebarkul, scientists said this week.