Couple of carjackers soon to be nominated for Darwin awards

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TallyMan
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05 Dec 2013, 1:09 pm

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Stolen cobalt-60 found in Mexico; curious thieves likely doomed

The carjackers, who set off international alarm bells by absconding with the material, most likely had no idea what they were stealing and will probably die soon from exposure, Mexican authorities said at the end of a brief national scare.
...

The driver of the cargo truck and his assistant worked for a licensed private company, and the lethal radioactive substance was sealed in the back, according to news reports.

The truck, equipped with a crane, was nearing its destination early Tuesday morning, several hours before the storage facility opened. While waiting for daybreak at a gas station in the state of Hidalgo, north of Mexico City, the drivers were jumped by two gunmen who beat them and stole the truck, said Mardonio Jimenez, a physicist and high-ranking official with Mexico’s nuclear safety commission.
...

“I believe, definitely, that the thieves did not know what they had,” Jimenez said. “They were interested in the crane, in the vehicle.”

The cobalt-60 was found, removed from its casing, in a rural area near the town of Hueypoxtla, about 25 miles from where the truck was stolen. Jimenez said he suspected that curiosity got the better of the thieves, and they opened the box. So far the carjackers have not been arrested, but authorities expect they will not live long.

“The people who handled it will have severe problems with radiation,” he said. “They will, without a doubt, die.”

Link: Thieves steal radioactive material

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Misslizard
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05 Dec 2013, 1:20 pm

Karma,it's a b***h.

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danmac
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05 Dec 2013, 2:40 pm

insert simpsons bully yelling "haha" and pointing :wink:

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GGPViper
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05 Dec 2013, 3:00 pm

This is actually not the first time...

In 1987, two scavengers stole a radioactive source (caesium chloride) used for radiotherapy from an abandoned hospital in Brazil, and it changed hands frequently afterwards.

At one time, a 6 year old girl was fascinated by the powder in the source, applied it to her body and then ate some of it when it fell on her sandwich.

... She was later buried in a lead-lined coffin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goi%C3%A2nia_accident

Kraichgauer
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05 Dec 2013, 3:49 pm

When this story first came out, I had heard there was fear the hijackers might have been terrorist connected, looking to build a dirty bomb. Guess the common consensus now is they were just some dumb goofs.

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Fnord
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05 Dec 2013, 4:00 pm

Here's a FAQ Sheet on Cobalt-60.

Quote:

How can cobalt-60 affect people's health?

All ionizing radiation, including that of cobalt-60, is known to cause cancer. Therefore, exposures to gamma radiation from cobalt-60 result in an increased risk of cancer.

Because it emits such strong gamma rays, external exposure to cobalt-60 is also considered a significant threat. The magnitude of the health risk depends on the quantity of cobalt-60 involved and on exposure conditions:

· length of exposure
· distance from the source (for external exposure)
· whether the cobalt-60 was ingested or inhaled.

Here's an Article on Gamma Radiation.

Quote:

Health effects

All ionizing radiation causes similar damage at a cellular level, but because rays of alpha particles and beta particles are relatively non-penetrating, external exposure to them causes only localized damage, e.g. radiation burns to the skin. Gamma rays and neutrons are more penetrating, causing diffuse damage throughout the body (e.g. radiation sickness, cell's DNA damage, cell death due to damaged DNA, increasing incidence of cancer) rather than burns. External radiation exposure should also be distinguished from internal exposure, due to ingested or inhaled radioactive substances, which, depending on the substance's chemical nature, can produce both diffuse and localized internal damage.

Not only have the thieves nominated themselves for their very own Darwin Awards, it looks like they're likely to receive them any day now ...

AutisticMillionaire
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05 Dec 2013, 4:42 pm

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktvTqknDobU[/youtube]

At least they have a theme song now.

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Woodpecker
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05 Dec 2013, 4:44 pm

Well I have no great love of people who steal and rob, but I think it is poor taste to gloat over the impending demise of a pair of radioactivity stealing criminals. I think that they should be taken to hospital and treated, bear in mind that radiation over exposure is very rare so every clinical case provides a lot of useful data which can help others.

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chris5000
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05 Dec 2013, 4:56 pm

Woodpecker wrote:

they are pretty much dead hospital or not theres not much to be done from exposure like that

AutisticMillionaire
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05 Dec 2013, 7:08 pm

Woodpecker wrote:

Actually your wrong, it's in poor taste to threaten and rob others. Celebrating the planets improvement with a couple of predators leaving it tastes rather sweet. Thinking everyone's wrong smugly just is a tad classless and rude though. The thought police are the enemy of thought, and rarely have anything to add to a conversation.

Honestly I hope they go back to spread more radiation among their gang. I respect your opinion to the contrary, just realize this is a forum and your opinions just an opinion. Just like mine.

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Dox47
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05 Dec 2013, 7:21 pm

GGPViper wrote:

Not that uncommon at all.

Quote:

1984 - Morocco - A source was lost during radiography and taken home by other people who initially failed to recognize the source [3]
1987 - Praça Cívica, Brazil - A caesium-137 based teletherapy unit left behind at Goiânia’s Instituto Goiano de Radioterapia (IGR)[3]. This is one of the most disastrous orphan source incidents, the event is known as the Goiânia accident.
1996 - Gilan, Iran - A source was temporarily lost during radiography at a power plant and found by an unsuspecting worker who put the source in his chest pocket for about 90 minutes. 1 person was severely injured [4]
1997 - Tbilisi, Georgia - The Lilo Training Center had multiple sources dating back to Soviet era military activity; 11 were injured.[5]
1999 - Leningrad, Russia - Stolen from an RTG in a Russian lighthouse and then recovered 50 kilometres away at a bus station [6]
1999 - Istanbul, Turkey - A source was sold to a junkyard for its lead container in the city of İkitelli [7]
2000 - Egypt - A source was taken home by an unsuspecting person near Mit Halfa, 15 km north of Cairo Qaluobiya,[8]
2001 - Georgia - Six Soviet era RTG's containing strontium-90 were found near the Inguri River [9][better source needed]
2008 - Karachi, Pakistan - An orphan source was discovered within the vicinity of the OGDCL (Oil & Gas Development Company Limited). Two containers were found buried which were suspected to be left over from Soviet oil drilling operations before the OGDCL took over in late 60s.[10]
2010 - Mayapuri, India - An orphan source caused the death of one worker and irradiated seven others in a scrap yard in the Mayapuri radiological accident
2011 - Prague, Czech Republic - A brachytherapy source was found buried in a Prague playground, radiating 500 µSv/h from one metre away.[11][12][13]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphan_source

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05 Dec 2013, 8:18 pm

AutisticMillionaire wrote:

... I hope they go back to spread more radiation among their gang...

Not likely. They were exposed to gamma radiation, and did not breathe or ingest radioactive fallout - they are not carrying anything in or on their bodies that could "infect" others. They can no more spread this form of radiation poisoning to others than they could spread a bad sunburn to others.

HOWEVER, if they ARE carrying any of the Cobalt-60 material (in the form of beads or pellets, most likely) in a pocket, that material has by now literally burned a hole through their skin, right down to the bone.

A horrible, painful death - in many ways, similar to death by Ebola - is too great a penalty to pay for robbery and assault.

pete1061
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05 Dec 2013, 8:21 pm

Kinda reminds me of a move....
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nPEM5d-MtQhttp://[/youtube]

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Kraichgauer
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05 Dec 2013, 9:32 pm

That is a movie classic! But did they leave Harry Dean Stanton out of the trailer? Because if they had, as he was the best thing in a great movie, that would indeed be a travesty!

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Schneekugel
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06 Dec 2013, 7:11 am

What I dont get, around here you have that typical "Radiation" warning symbol on everything related to radiation. So even if they were not aware of the cargo at the beginning, at least when I inspect the cargo, and see that its sealed cases, all signed with the "radiation" warning symbol, why the hell should I open that? O_o

That they were not aware of the cargo, and maybe simply threw it away, while still sealed. Ok, that was reasonable to me. But why OPEN it?

At least, when I work in hospitals (We do sanitary walls and celings as well, that sometimes need to be able to block radiation for all kind of machines.) there normally are everywhere big warning signs, about what to touch and what not too touch, including the garbage facilities and storage boxes for radiation material.

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06 Dec 2013, 8:39 am

I can imagine the conversation between those two highly-educated Mexican chaps...

"Oh, look, James! They've plastered those funny little triangle symbols all over this one. I'll bet they're just trying to scare people away from all of the valuable goods inside!"

"Really, Sir Victor? One would think that there is the possibility of something dangerous within the confines of that container."

"Nonsense, old boy! Do hand me that spanner ... there we go ... help me lift this lid ..."

... now, doesn't that make more sense?

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