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MOSCOW (AP) -- A meteor streaked across the sky above Russia's Ural Mountains on Friday morning, causing sharp explosions and injuring more than 1000 people, many of them hurt by broken glass.

"There was panic. People had no idea what was happening. Everyone was going around to people's houses to check if they were OK," said Sergey Hametov, a resident of Chelyabinsk, about 1500 kilometers (930 miles) east of Moscow, the biggest city in the affected region.

"We saw a big burst of light then went outside to see what it was and we heard a really loud thundering sound," he told The Associated Press by telephone.

Fragments of the meteor fell in a thinly populated area of the Chelyabinsk region, the Emergency Ministry said in a statement.

Interior Ministry spokesman Vadim Kolesnikov said more than 400 people had sought medical treatment after the blasts, and at least three had been hospitalized in serious condition. Many of the injuries were from glass broken by the explosions.

Kolsenikov also said about 600 square meters (6000 square feet) of a roof at a zinc factory had collapsed.

Reports conflicted on what exactly happened in the clear skies. A spokeswoman for the Emergency Ministry, Irina Rossius, told The Associated Press that there was a meteor shower, but another ministry spokeswoman, Elena Smirnikh, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying it was a single meteorite.

Amateur video broadcast on Russian television showed an object speeding across the sky about 9:20 a.m. local time (0320 GMT), leaving a thick white contrail and an intense flash.

Russian news reports noted that the meteor hit less than a day before the asteroid 2012 DA14 is to make the closest recorded pass of an asteroid -- about 17,150 miles (28,000 kilometers). There was no immediate demonstrable connection.

Russia Today posted videos of the meteorite streaking over Chelyanbinsk.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Republicans have questioned Chuck Hagel's truthfulness and they've challenged his patriotism. Now they're threatening to delay his nomination to be President Barack Obama's defense secretary unless the White House gives them more information about what Obama was doing on the night of the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has set the stage for a full Senate vote on Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska and twice-wounded Vietnam combat veteran. Reid filed a motion Wednesday to limit debate and force a vote, which is expected to be held Friday.

Democrats hold a 55-45 edge in the Senate, but they need the support of five Republicans to clear the way for an up-or-down vote.

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has been arrested in the shooting death of his girlfriend, police and the woman's talent agent said Thursday.

Capacity Relations talent management firm said 29 year old model Reeva Steenkamp was the victim of the shooting.

Police spokeswoman Lt. Col. Katlego Mogale told The Associated Press that officers received a call around 3 a.m. saying there had been a shooting at the 26-year-old double-amputee runner's home in a gated housing complex in the capital, Pretoria. A 9 mm pistol was recovered and a murder case opened against Pistorius, who is to appear in court later Thursday.

South African media speculated that Pistorius may have mistaken the young woman for an intruder.

Steenkamp tweeted her excitement about Valentine's Day hours before the shooting.