
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 8, 1991                   TAG: 9102080042
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MOSCOW                                LENGTH: Short

SPACECRAFT PIECES FALL OVER ARGENTINA

A Soviet space station the size of a railroad car plunged through the atmosphere in a "rain of fire" over Argentina on Thursday, ending a month of suspense over where it would land.

The long period of speculation had triggered panic in one Russian village, which shut down its businesses and schools for fear of falling debris.

The 40-ton Salyut-7 space station re-entered the Earth's atmosphere early Thursday and "burned out of existence," the official news agency Tass said.

Pieces of the spacecraft fell on a sparsely populated area in the Andes mountains near the Chilean border, the Argentine government news agency reported.

by CNB