Russian scientists recover meteor fragments

MOSCOW - Scientists have found more than 50 tiny fragments of a meteor that exploded over Russia's Ural Mountains with the power of dozens of atomic bombs.

Viktor Grokhovsky, who led the expedition from Urals Federal University, said Monday the meteorites plucked from the ice-covered Chebarkul Lake so far are less than a centimeter (less than half an inch)  and had an iron content of about 10 percent.

Locals saw a big meteorite fall into the lake on Friday, leaving a six-meter-wide (20-foot-wide) hole in the ice.  Grokhovsky said a meteorite up to 50-60 centimeters (20-24 inches) could eventually be found in the lake.

Russian health officials on Monday raised the number of those injured from the meteor's arrival to nearly 1,500 people, with 46 of them still hospitalized.