The Associated Press

Alexander Babin, a rescuer employed by Chelyabinsk Airlines, who was injured by glass from window at his home broken by a shock wave from a meteor explosion, rests after getting medical care in Chelyabinsk Regional Hospital in Chelyabinsk, about 1500 kilometers (930 miles) east of Moscow, Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013. A meteor that scientists estimate weighed 10 tons (11 tons) streaked at supersonic speed over Russia's Ural Mountains on Friday, setting off blasts that injured some 500 people and frightened countless more. (AP Photo/Boris Kaulin)

By LAURA MILLS Associated Press

CHELYABINSK, Russia (AP) — As a small army of people worked to replace acres of windows shattered by the enormous explosion from a meteor, many joked on Saturday about what had happened in this troubled pocket of Russia.

One of the most popular jests: Residents of the meteor were terrified to see Chelyabinsk approaching.

The fireball that streaked into the sky over this tough industrial city at about sunrise Friday was undeniably traumatic. Nearly 1,200 people were reported injured by the shock wave from the explosion, estimated to be as strong as 20 Hiroshima atomic bombs.

But it also brought a sense of cooperation in a troubled region. Large numbers of volunteers came forward to help fix the damage caused by the explosion and many residents came together on the Internet — first to find out what happened and soon to make jokes.