A southern Indian man has been killed by a meteorite in the Tamil Nadu state, Indian authorities have claimed.

If investigations confirmed the bus driver was indeed killed by the space rock, it would reportedly be the first time in recorded history a meteorite had killed a person.

The object’s impact left a 1.5 metre crater in the ground, according to local media.

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It also shattered window panes in a nearby building, killing the man who was walking past and injuring three others.

The object weighed only 11 grams. The bus driver was standing on a patch of grass near a bluestone building when the incident occurred.

Authorities first believed a blast may have caused the chaos, but no evidence of explosives were found.

Local media showed images of a blue-coloured rock, which Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Jayaram described as a “meteorite”.

“A meteorite fell at a private engineering college … and claimed the life of a college bus driver,” Mr Jayaram said in a statement, expressing “shock” at the news.

Experts said other explanations were possible for the incident.

Assistant professor at the Indian Astrophysics Institute S. P. Rajaguru, said the rock “could” be a meteorite but further tests were needed to be sure.

“Most of the meteors never reach the earth surface as they completely vaporise in the atmosphere,” he said.

“Hitting the Earth surface is very rare and there have been no deaths in recorded history.”

The expert also said the missile could be rocket or space shuttle debris.

Meteors are particles of dust and rock that usually burn up as they pass through the Earth’s atmosphere.

Those that do not burn up completely, surviving the fall to Earth, are known as meteorites.

– with ABC