The UN atomic watchdog said on Thursday it believed the Mexican public was safe after a stolen medical device containing an “extremely dangerous” radioactive material was recovered in a field.
“Based on the information available, the Mexican authorities and the IAEA believe the general public is safe and will remain safe,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said. Mexican authorities said on Wednesday that they had found the cancer-treating device containing cobalt-60 in a rural area, two days after the truck taking it from a hospital to a waste storage centre was stolen.
CNSNS director Juan Eibenschutz told Milenio television that it was "absolutely certain that whoever removed this material by hand is either already dead or about to die.”