'I thought I saw a nuclear bomb exploding'

'My thoughts were confused and spontaneous. The first thing I thought was not a meteorite, but a nuclear bomb. Then I remembered the media reports about a possible asteroid and its approach to the Earth'. Picture: Marat Akhmetaleyev

Sensational pictures of last week's meteorite strike have emerged from a Russian photographer.

Marat Akhmetaleyev, 31, had just fixed his tripod for some landscape pictures when the space rock shot through the sky, exploding with the force of 30 Hiroshima explosions.

'I was lucky to just see it. I was EXTREMELY lucky to be able to photograph it,' he told The Siberian Times.

'It was a truly idyllic morning, so quiet, so peaceful. I was completely relaxed and totally into my landscape shooting - until the sudden appearance of this 'guest'. I can't say it was all that professional, the way I responded. I just did everything automatically.'

The results are stunning. Breathtaking.

---

'There was nothing unusual or special in the sky before the object appeared. After making a few shots from different angles, I moved to a different spot. The camera was pointed in the direction of the rising sun. A couple of minutes remained before the sun would appear'. Pictures: Marat Akhmetaleyev

'The morning was frosty (about -17 C), windless and cloudless,' said Marat.

'And because the day before was very warm (the temperature was near zero) - the trees were covered with frost.

'I decided to go to my favourite photography spot which is close to my home. Around 9am, I was at the spot and began to make my first shots.

'There was nothing unusual or special in the sky before the object appeared. After making a few shots from different angles, I moved to a different spot. The camera was pointed in the direction of the rising sun. A couple of minutes remained before the sun would appear.'

Then came the flash.

'The appearance of the object was a total surprise! The camera was on the tripod and was pointed almost at the side, from where the object appeared.

'I leaned over to the camera to change the angle and make another shot.

'At this point, with my side vision, I saw a bright flash. At first it was small. I immediately turned the camera to the object, and at this time of the flash reached its peak, and everything was lit with a stunning bright light.'

His mind raced with thoughts about what he was witnessing, as he kept taking pictures.

'My thoughts were confused and spontaneous. The first thing I thought was not a meteorite, but a nuclear bomb. Then I remembered the media reports about a possible asteroid and its approach to the Earth.

'Then there was the idea that a plane had crashed.'

---

'When the flash was as bright as possible, I felt strong heat in my face. It lasted just a split second. At the time of bright light, I also felt a strong pain in the eyes of intolerable glare'. Pictures: Marat Akhmetaleyev

Marat said: 'In the first seconds my heartbeat and breath quickened, and as well my hands were shaking with shock from what I was witnessing. When the flash was as bright as possible, I felt strong heat in my face. It lasted just a split second.

'At the time of bright light, I also felt a strong pain in the eyes of intolerable glare.'

Some two minutes after the flash there were a series of explosions. 'The sound was clear and very powerful. The first explosion was very strong,' he said.

'No physical sensations and vibrations - as I was far from any buildings and roads.

'Immediately after that there was a series of bombings over the pine forest, a large number of birds rose up and flew in all directions.

'My heartbeat, breathing, and hand tremors only got worse. The shock was even bigger'.

---

---

'Everything was a blur, and occurred in a matter of seconds. Next, the actions which I do vaguely remember. I did everything 'automatically'. Shock did not allow me to concentrate to put the correct values and choose a better camera angle. I remember that I dropped the camera control in the snow, and changed the filter on the lens. Pictures: Marat Akhmetaleyev

On how he shot the remarkable pictures, he said 'immediately after seeing the first outbreak, I turned the camera towards the subject.....but it was heavily overexposed.

'I frantically started trying to fix the exposure to capture the object. I do not remember exactly how I made the frame with the hot particles in the meteorite track.

'Everything was a blur, and occurred in a matter of seconds.

'Next, the actions which I do vaguely remember. I did everything 'automatically'.

'Shock did not allow me to concentrate to put the correct values and choose a better camera angle.

'I remember that I dropped the camera control in the snow, and changed the filter on the lens.

'Only after the series of blasts I came to my senses, and was able to set the correct exposure, choose camera angles and shoot a few panoramas with the meteorite cloud'.

The morning sun had now risen. But the sky seemed bluer and more transparent than usual and the sun 'was not like a morning sun, but the sun at noon'.

'My thoughts were overwhelming and did not allow me to think about the scale of the incident and its consequences. On the way home I thought how I'd witnessed something global and very important. Pictures: Marat Akhmetaleyev

After his most remarkable shoot, Marat stood on the spot, stunned.

'I just stood there for some time, observing the nature around me, and thinking about what I had just experienced.

'My first thoughts were about my loved ones. It was very difficult to call them, because the mobile networks were overloaded.

'My thoughts were overwhelming and did not allow me to think about the scale of the incident and its consequences.

'On the way home I thought how I'd witnessed something global and very important.

'Only when I got in touch with my family, was I able to concentrate on what I'd seen. First news on the Internet did not give any clarity.

'I immediately set down to work on the pictures and prepare them for publication'.

Visit Marat's blog http://marateaman.livejournal.com/27910.html

Map locates Hawthorne Army Depot in Nevada, where 7 Marines are killed in an explosion.

Marine Brig. Gen. Jim Lukeman address the media outside the gates of Camp Lejeune, N.C., on Tuesday, March 19, 2013. Seven Marines from the base were killed in a mortar accident in Nevada Monday night. (AP Photo/Allen Breed)

HAWTHORNE, Nev. (AP) — A mortar shell explosion killed at least seven Marines and injured several more during mountain warfare training in Nevada's high desert, prompting the Pentagonto immediately halt the use of the weapons until an investigation can determine their safety, officials said Tuesday.

The explosion occurred Monday night at the Hawthorne Army Depot, a sprawling facility used by troops heading overseas, during an exercise involving the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force fromCamp Lejeune, N.C. Several Marines from the unit were injured in the blast, authorities said.

The mortar round exploded in its firing tube during the exercise, Brig. Gen. Jim Lukeman said at a news conference at Camp Lejeune. He said investigators were trying to determine the cause of the malfunction.

The Pentagon expanded a temporary ban to prohibit the military from firing any 60 mm mortar rounds until the results of the investigation. The Marine Corps said Tuesday a "blanket suspension" of 60 mm mortars and associated firing tubes is in effect.

The Pentagon earlier had suspended use of all high-explosive and illumination mortar rounds that were in the same manufacturing lots as ones fired in Nevada.

It was not immediately clear whether more than a single round exploded, a Marine Corps official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official wasn't authorized to speak about an ongoing investigation.

The Marine Corps said early Tuesday that seven Marines were killed. But John Stroud, national junior vice commander in chief for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, began a memorial event in Hawthorne on Tuesday night by saying "one of the critical has passed," bringing the death toll to eight.

Members of the women's Auxiliary of VFW 231 then laid a wreath and eight individual floral arrangements at a park where a flag flew at half-staff within sight of the Hawthorne depot's boundary.

"We honor the eight brave Marines who gave their lives to their country," Stroud said. "When the call of the country was heard, these eight young Marines answered."

Stroud said he spoke with Marine officers from Camp Lejeune who told him about the eighth death before the ceremony. Capt. Binford R. Strickland, a spokesman at Camp Lejeune, said in an email late Tuesday that he could only confirm that seven were killed and eight were injured.

The identities of those killed won't be released until 24 hours after their families are notified.

"We send our prayers and condolences to the families of Marines involved in this tragic incident," said the force's commander, Maj. Gen. Raymond C. Fox. "We mourn their loss, and it is with heavy hearts we remember their courage and sacrifice."

The rescue was complicated by the remoteness of the site, which is favored because the harsh geography simulates conditions in Afghanistan.

The 60 mm mortar is a weapon that traditionally requires three to four Marines to operate, but it's common during training for others to observe nearby. The firing tube is supported in a tripod-like design and fires roughly a 3-pound shell, some 14 inches in length and a bit larger than 2 inches in diameter.

The mortar has changed little since World War II and remains one of the simplest weapons to operate, which is why it is found at the lowest level of infantry units, said Joseph Trevithick, a mortar expert with Global Security.org.

"Basically, it's still a pipe and it's got a firing pin at the bottom," Trevithick said. Still, a number of things could go wrong, such as a fuse malfunction, a problem with the barrel's assembly, or a round prematurely detonating inside the tube, he said.

The Marine Corps official said an explosion at the point of firing in a training exercise could kill or maim anyone in or near the protective mortar pit and could concussively detonate any mortars stored nearby in a phenomenon known as "sympathetic detonation."

The official said a worldwide moratorium after such an accident is not unusual and would persist until the investigation determines that the weapon did not malfunction in ways that would hurt other Marines or that mortar shells manufactured at the same time as the one involved in the accident were safe.

The official said it would be normal to warn other U.S. military branches that use 60 mm mortars, such as the Army, about the Marines warning. The moratorium could last for weeks or months.

The investigation will focus on whether the Marines followed procedures to properly fire the weapon, or whether there was a malfunction in the firing device or in the explosive mortar shell itself, the official said.

The Hawthorne Army Depot stores and disposes of ammunition. The facility is made up of hundreds of buildings spread over more than 230 square miles, and bunkers dot the sagebrush-covered hills visible from the highway.

Renown hospital emergency physician Dr. Michael Morkin, at a news conference late Tuesday afternoon, said some of the injured Marines he treated were conscious and "knew something happened but didn't know what."

He said he's "fairly confident" that one of the most seriously injured Marines wouldn't have survived had it not been for the response of a Careflight medical helicopter to the remote site near Hawthorne, 140 miles southeast of Reno.

Morkin said the Marines mostly suffered blunt force trauma from shrapnel.

"They're injuries of varying severity ... to varying parts of the body. They're complicated injuries to deal with," he said.

Retired Nevada state archivist Guy Rocha said the Hawthorne depot opened in 1930, four years after a lightning-sparked explosion virtually destroyed the Lake Denmark Naval Ammunition depot in northern New Jersey, about 40 miles west of New York City.

The blast and fires that raged for days heavily damaged the adjacent Picatinny Army Arsenal and surrounding communities, killing 21 people and seriously injuring more than 50 others.

Hawthorne has held an important place in American military history since World War II when it became the staging area for ammunition, bombs and rockets for the war. The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection says that the depot employed more than 5,500 people at its peak.

The facility was considered safely remote, but strategically close to Navy bases in California.

Rocha said he was unaware of any other catastrophic event at the depot over the years it served as a munitions repository. The facility has downsized in recent years but survived a round of base closures nationwide in 2005.

Military officials noted that it gave Marines, Army and Navy personnel a place to train for deployment overseas.

"They train at a similar climate, elevation and terrain as Afghanistan," said Rocha, who has visited the depot many times over the years.

In the small town that calls itself "America's Patriotic Home" near the depot, a massive flag in a park across from the local war memorial waved at half-staff.

Larry Mortensen, an industrial engineer at the depot for 41 years before retiring in 1999, serves with his wife, Carole, on the board of directors of the Hawthorne Ordnance Museum. The museum displays hundreds of shells and other munitions, battery guns and weapons dating to World War II.

Mortensen said there had been fatal accidents at the depot in years past, but none resulting in mass casualties. He said he expected the rural town of about 3,500 residents to rally around victims' families.

"It's a military community. Everybody here supports the military," he said.

___

Bridis reported from Washington. Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Pauline Jelinek in Washington, Allen Breed in Camp Lejeune, N.C., Julie Watson in San Diego, Martin Griffith in Reno, Nev., Michelle Rindels and Ken Ritter in Las Vegas, and Joseph Altman in Phoenix.

Rebels pick US citizen as Syrian prime minister

ISTANBUL (AP) — The man chosen to head the Syrian opposition's new interim government is a Syrian-born American citizen who has spent decades in the United States working for technology companies and advocating for various Muslim causes.

Members of the opposition Syrian National Coalition electedGhassan Hitto in a vote early Tuesday to head an administration they hope will provide an alternative to President Bashar Assad's regime and help coordinate the fight against his forces.

"The new government will work from the starting point of complete national sovereignty and the unity of the Syrian land and people, which can only by achieved through continued determination to topple Bashar Assad, his regime and all its pillars," he said in a speech in Istanbul.

Much remains unknown about the body that Hitto will lead, including how many ministers it will have and if it will receive enough support to project its authority inside Syria, where it is supposed to set up operations.

The head of the coalition, Mouaz al-Khatib, threw his support behind the new body, and the head of the coalition's military leadership, Gen. Salim Idris, did the same Monday before the results were announced.

But the new government could find it difficult to become the top rebel authority in Syria. A patchwork of rebel brigades and local councils has sprung up in areas seized from government forces, many of them struggling to provide services and running their own security, prisons and courts.

Hundreds of loosely affiliated rebels groups are involved in the civil war against government forces, and they are unlikely to submit to an outside authority unless it can provide them with aid such as arms and ammunition.

Due to his many years in the United States, Hitto is little known inside Syria and even among some members of the mostly exile coalition.

Coalition member Salah al-Hamwi, who is in charge of the coalition's local councils in Hama province, said he had worked with Hitto to deliver aid and was impressed that he had left his life in the U.S. to use his skills for Syria.

"He has the mind of an accountant, not an emotional mind, so he is very good at analyzing what needs to be done," he said.

Others in the coalition complained of his selection.

Veteran opposition figure Kamal al-Labwani said he suspected Hitto had been put in place by larger political powers, like Qatar, which has heavily financed the opposition, and the Muslim Brotherhood.

He also said he as a coalition member never got to meet or question Hitto before his election.

"I wanted to ask him what the women in Daraya wear and what's the population of Homs?" he said, suggesting that Hitto was out of touch with Syria.

"I wanted to ask him how many years he's lived in Syria," he said. "He left when he was young."

Hitto won 35 of the 48 votes cast by the coalition's 63 active members.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland welcomed Hitto's election, saying the U.S. was aware of his aid work.

"This is an individual who, out of concern for the Syrian people, left a very successful life in Texas to go and work on humanitarian relief for the people of his home country," she said.

She added: "We're very hopeful that his election will foster unity and cohesion among the opposition."

Hitto's many years abroad and fluent English could facilitate his efforts to win international support for his government. He called on the international community on Tuesday to grant his government Syria's seats at the Arab League and the United Nations.

Hitto was born in Syria's capital of Damascus in 1963 and moved to the United States as a young man, where he earned double bachelors' degrees from Purdue University and an MBA from Indiana Wesleyan University, according to the coalition.

He worked for IT companies and advocated for a number of Muslim causes. After 9/11, he helped found the Muslim Legal Fund of America, which provides legal support to Arabs, Muslims and Asians. He also helped run an Islamic private school in Garland, Texas. Its website describes it as a place "where knowledge, faith, academics and character meet!"

Hitto is a member of Syria's Kurdish ethnic minority, though he is not considered a representative of the community, which has not joined the coalition.

He is married to a teacher and has four children.

In a speech to a rally in Fort Worth, Texas, in 2012, he spoke of his son, Obaida, who was applying to law school when "he made up his mind ... to help the people of Syria." His son has since been in the embattled city of Deir al-Zour, shooting videos to post online.

The elder Hitto left Texas late last year to move to Turkey, where he helped run the coalition's aid program to Syria.

In the video of the Fort Worth rally, posted online in September, Hitto criticized Assad's regime for deploying its army to suppress political protests while not sending it to take back the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in 1967 and later annexed.

"They were faced with live bullets, with tanks, with soldiers, an army that did not bother to fire a single bullet to claim or to attempt to reclaim its own occupied land for 42 years," he said.

___