A half-tonne rock, suspected to be a meteorite, has today been pulled out of murky lake in the Urals, Russia.

Experts believe it may be part of a meteor whose ground-shaking shockwave hurt 1,600 people in Russia in February.

The meteor broke up into multiple pieces as it entered the atmosphere, scattering space debris across the industrial region.

Much of the meteor landed in a local lake called Chebarkul that the divers entered in an operation covered live on Russian television.

The rock broke up into at least three large pieces as scientists began lifting it from the ground with the help of levers and ropes.

The scale itself broke the moment it hit the 570-kilogramme (1,255-pound) mark.

Experts cautioned however that it will take time before scientists can certify that the rock they pulled from the lake had indeed come from outer space.

The Vesti 24 rolling news channel reported that divers had already recovered more than 12 pieces from Lake Chebarkul since the February 15 incident.

The station cautioned that only four or five them turned out being real meteorites.