Asteroid Google Doodle removed after meteor strike

Popular search engine Google has withdrawn a Google Doodle which was put up in the event of a record close approach of an asteroid towards Earth, following the unexpected meteor strike in Russia, in which numerous people were injured.

The moving Google illustration, in which the small 'g' of Google was shown evading a flying rock, had been put up in anticipation of the huge Asteroid 2012 DA14, which has passed the Earth, the Telegraph reports.

The doodle was removed following reports that hundreds of people had been hurt after a meteor broke up into fragments in the atmosphere over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, damaging property and injuring people from the flying glass and debris.

Rediff