Sunday Times 2
Stolen radioactive material still missing in Mexico
View(s):MEXICO CITY, April 18 (AFP) -Mexican authorities have yet to find a toolbox-sized container carrying dangerous radioactive material that was stolen on April 13, authorities said Friday.
“Up to now, we have found neither the source nor the truck in which it was located,” Juan Eibenschutz, director general of the National Nuclear Safety Commission, told Milenio television.
The theft of the Iridium-192, which is used for industrial radiography, triggered a government alert in five southern and eastern states.
Officials believe the thieves probably did not know they were stealing radioactive material when they robbed the truck in Cardenas, Tabasco. The population is safe as long as the source remains in the sealed protective box.
Similar thefts of radioactive material have occurred three other times since 2013. Officials have always recovered the material, with no deaths reported.