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Posted by Sonya Sondage
AP is reporting that six people involved in the theft of radioactive materials are hospitalized in Pachucha, Mexico, with police blocking the hospital so they cannot escape arrest.
The International Atomic Energy Agency stated the cobalt-60 “could be extremely dangerous to a person if removed from the shielding, or if it was damaged.”
Direct exposure to the radioactive isotope could result in death within minutes stated IAEA.
On Monday night thieves stole a cargo truck loaded with a shipment of radioactive cobalt-60. Monday’s theft triggered alerts in Mexico, as well as at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. Authorities did warn that whoever stole the materials was probably contaminated and would die.
The original intended truck driver said he left Tijuana on Nov. 28 and was headed to the storage facility in another part of Mexico. On Monday night he was sleeping in the truck while parked at a gas station in Tepajaco. Two armed men approached the truck around 1:30am, Tuesday morning. The thieves forced the driver out, tied his hands and feet, and left the driver in a vacant lot near the gas station.
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