Mysterious 50kg ice cube hits village

A villager in Xunyang county, northwest China's Shaanxi province, shows the ice cubes she has picked. (Photo/hsw.cn)

(ECNS) -- A mysterious 50 kilogram ice block hit a village in northwest China's Shaanxi province, local news portal hsw.cn reported.

The large ice cube crashed into a bamboo forest in a village of Xunyang county around 2 p.m. Sunday, breaking branches and punching a two centimeter-deep hole in the ground.

Local residents said it was just like an ordinary ice block, but smelt like diesel oil and tasted bitter.

"It could not be a hailstone as we have not detected any severe weather in that area," an expert from the Xunyang Meteorological Administration explained.

It was speculated as ice falling from a plane or meteoric ice, which is even rarer than meteoric stones. Investigations into the origins of the ice block are ongoing.