Via RT:
Authorities have issued emergency warnings to five Mexican states after it was reported that thieves had stolen potentially deadly radioactive material, the latest such heist to strike the Latin American country.
The interior ministry issued an alert in the states of Tabasco, Campeche, Chiapas, Oaxaca and Veracruz that a container holding iridium-192 – a man-made radioactive element that can cause burns, acute radiation sickness and even death – was stolen on Monday from a truck in Cardenas, a town in southern Tabasco.
“This source is very dangerous to people if it is removed from its container,” the statement said.
The theft of the radioactive material was reported by the company Garantia Radiografica e Ingenieria on Monday.
The ministry added the material “could cause permanent injuries to the person who handles it or who has been in contact with it for a brief time (minutes or hours).”