Carjackers Steal Truck Full of Radioactive Waste, Now They Will Die

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Pro-tip to any aspiring carjackers out there: If you're going to steal a truck, make sure it's not one filled with radioactive waste.
On Monday, a driver transporting discarded cobalt-60 from medical devices in Mexico stopped along a highway to take a nap—also a bad idea—when two gunman carjacked his truck.
The thieves likely had no idea of the trucks contents—odds are they targeted it because it's a new-ish (2007) Volkswagen with an attached crane. But the carjacking triggered a minor international panic, and the International Atomic Energy Agency issued a statement about the theft.
"At the time the truck was stolen, the source was properly shielded," the IAEA said. "However, the source could be extremely dangerous to a person if removed from the shielding, or if it was damaged."
Unfortunately, that's just what the thieves did; last night, authorities discovered the truck, with the shielding removed and the cobalt-60 exposed.
"The person or people who took this out are in very great risk of dying," Mardonio Jimenez, a physicist for Mexico's Commission of Nuclear Safety and Safeguards, told NBC News. The average time of survival after such an exposure is between one and three days, according to Jimenez.
The material was discovered half a mile from a town of about 6,000 people, but authorities say the population isn't at risk.
"Fortunately there are no people where the source of radioactivity is," Juan Eibenschutz, director general of the Commission on Nuclear Safety, said. "What's important is that the material has been located and the place is being watched to guarantee no one gets close."

Sucks to be those guys

 

[Tropico]

I bet they stole it 'cause they thought they would get powers.

 

[GreenBillyIdol]

Wow Michael Bay can now turn this into a comedy with The Rock and Marky Mark in the lead roles.

 

[Victarion]

Bwahahahahaha. That's crazy. Nice scoop, DJ.

 

[james-in-cali]

Mexico has a commission of nuclear safety and safeguards?

 

[Duke]

Those guys are going to be glowing in the dark.

 

[Schlosser85]

Birth of a supervillain.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

I'm sure Couldson and the crew will be here to investigate shortly

 

[Xeno]

Another DJ thread, another burst of inappropriate laughter from me.


But seriously, I hope that the authorities are wrong and these poor losers aren't doomed to a radioactive death. That's one of the worst ways to go.

 

[Tanin]

I saw Robocop and I know how this will end.

 

[Warhammer]

"Now they will die."

 

[NickNitro]

I'm serious DJ can you start adding links...so I can share these news articles.

 

[Godzilla2000]

Poetic justice?

 

[NickNitro]

What of instead of dying...they turned into super villains.....

 

[Teelie]

More likely they'll die painful, radiation-poisoned deaths. Cobalt-60 is some nasty stuff.

 

[Xeno]

This story just took a turn for the worse. Six people have been hospitalized for radiation poisoning after coming into contact with the material, and they may simply be people who lived near where the truck was dumped instead of the carjackers. The Mexican authorities haven't made that clear yet. It would be terrible if innocent bystanders were injured or killed by this criminal stupidity.

6 hospitalized in Mexico for possible radiation poisoning

Six people exposed to radioactive material stashed inside a stolen truck were being treated at a Mexico hospital on Friday, a day after authorities said they'd recovered all of the potentially deadly substance.

The five adults and one 16-year-old had apparently come into contact with cobalt-60 about 12 hours after the truck containing it and medical equipment was stolen Monday in Tepojaco, said Hidalgo state health official Jose Antonio Copca, as reported by state-run Notimex.

A source in the Hidalgo state government confirmed to CNN that six had been hospitalized for presumed contact with cobalt-60, adding that they lived near where the dangerous material was found.

Authorities -- who have said they expect that the thieves will turn up to get medical treatment for possible radiation exposure -- have not announced explicitly that anyone has been caught.

But the Notimex article detailing the hospitalizations did state that a 25-year-old man and a 16-year-old man are in federal police custody. The report did not say why they'd been detained, only that the Interior Ministry will soon have more details.

Nor was there an indication whether the two were among those hospitalized in Pachuca, the capital of Hidalgo state. The Hidalgo government source declined to say whether any of those being treated in his state's capital are suspects in the criminal investigation.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Good looking out Xeno. I'm at work and they are tripping on internet right now so I can keep up with the updates right now

 

[Warhammer]

This thread reminds me of this for some reason.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

I'm serious DJ can you start adding links...so I can share these news articles.

Ya if I'm at home I use chrome and I've been posting links at the bottom, when I'm at work I use firefox and the hotlinks are in blue in the quotes

 

[Victarion]

Guys guys what if everything they touch will also die?

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

That is one horrible, slow, painful death though. I feel really bad for the people that got exposed to it because of those idiots greed

 

[Teelie]

It's not just greed but total incompetence and stupidity. You don't steal a truck full of medical waste, especially one full of radioactive medical waste.

 

[Astro13Zombie]

Guys guys what if everything they touch will also die?

 

[DarkSentinel]

It's not just greed but total incompetence and stupidity. You don't steal a truck full of medical waste, especially one full of radioactive medical waste.

Tell that to the guys who stole a truck full of radioactive medical waste.


En español

 

[Teelie]

I would have thought all the danger signs in Spanish and radioactive warning symbols would be sufficient to deter anyone with common sense so I doubt anyone telling them how dumb it was would have made a difference.