Police block Mexico hospital, 6 may have radiation

A hospital in Pachuca, Mexico apparently has 6 people with radiation exposure.

This seems to be connected to that truck theft the other day where some cobalt60 was stolen and the containers were later found open !!

This shows how vulnerable we are. This could have easily been used to contaminate many people for radical reasons.

PACHUCA, Mexico (AP) -- Federal police blocked access Friday to a central Mexico hospital where six people were reported to have been admitted with radiation exposure.

An official familiar with the case confirmed Mexican media reports that the six have been admitted to the general hospital in the city of Pachuca and may have been exposed to a stolen source of cobalt-60.

Police block Mexico hospital, 6 may have radiation

Winner winner chicken dinner! I think they have found those responsible for stealing the truck full of radioactive materials.

Honestly, if they don't know enough to realize that anything with a radiation symbol is dangerous, then Darwinism is at work here. I can't feel sorry for thieves who get burned by stolen cargo.

However, you do make a valid point.....radioactive substances are shipped all the time. As long as they don't fall into the hands of somebody who actually understands how to use them in a weapon, the damage will be contained to a small area.

It is true that we are ALL vulnerable to a radiological attack. There is certainly enough source material available in the world (even more common in the US) to make it a concern. This is one of the reasons I support increased security at the borders. The reports seem to indicate that detectors at the border crossings would have found this shipment if they would have tried to bring it across. However, can a nation with several thousand miles of ocean coastline ever really secure it's border?

Still, all things considered, I have MUCH more to fear from the current weather than I do from random terrorist attack, and I would rather spend my time effort and money combating that.

reply to post by xuenchen


All I have to say is know what you are stealing if you must steal.
I would like to nominate them for the Darwin award for 2013.
collegefootball.rivals.com...

Darwin Award winners for 2013 .....
They'll be dead in a few days. Pretty expensive theft for them.
They got nothing AND they end up dead.

reply to post by xuenchen


I am actually curious if they knew what the heck it was that they stole? I always thought radioactive waste had an international symbol tacked to the side of it. What were they thinking lol.... assuming it is the culprits to the truck heist.

reply to post by FlyersFan

I know I shouldn't be, but just LMAO, it's like a real-life Repo Man.

its not the first time something like this has happened and likley not the last.
here is a simular incident
en.wikipedia.org...

There isn't much you can do for that kind of poisoning. Not only that, they have been carrying it around for a few days. The hell they are going through and will be for awhile is punishment enough.

I had to laugh at the Darwin award nominations. lol

I agree.

Thank you for the update.

VoidWalker
reply to post by xuenchen

 

I am actually curious if they knew what the heck it was that they stole? I always thought radioactive waste had an international symbol tacked to the side of it. What were they thinking lol.... assuming it is the culprits to the truck heist.

The educational system in Mexico being what it is, I wonder if they could even read.
My second question is whether they could have been working for one of the cartels or as the article suggests just after the crane on the truck.
I always question the "official" story.

reply to post by vonclod


Right about that.

This happened in 2002

Associated Press WriterMEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexico's defense department announced that 70 drums of sodium cyanide were found Wednesday near a dirt road in central Mexico -- apparently part of a stolen shipment of the highly poisonous chemical that officials have been seeking for 18 days.

Full story

reply to post by RedmoonMWC


hahah agreed good sir!

reply to post by xuenchen


Don't quote me but I read that the container didn't have the nuclear sign on it. Who knows if the ones that stole it were the ones that found it??

I read it was found in a field. It could have been dumped and some peasants came upon it. Just saying...

reply to post by Montana


If anyone were trying to kill us we'd be dead by now- I could do more damage with a book of matches than all of the terrorists that have entered the US in the last 10 years. So yeah, lets all get super scared that there are dangerous substances out there and they aren't always in the right hands, even though experience shows that the finite number of people willing to inconvenience themselves to hurt us, their limited resources, and the availability of less elaborate means of hurting people makes it much more likely that you'll be shot while packed into a crowded room with few exits long before anyone makes a dirty bomb or anything like it.

90% of the time when something dangerous gets lost they cover it up. The other 10% of the time they are trying to scare you with something that they don't actually consider a problem.

My first thought was, if this was in Mexico, who knows what kind of protection measures they even took. This wouldn't of happened in the US.

And even if they did have hazard signs, most people don't know how to read them. Heck, windex and milk tankers have hazard signs.

Good point by the poster who said they might not even be able to read.

reply to post by nixie_nox


No kidding! Heartless people. I guess theft deserves the death penalty by some of the posts in this thread. Pffffft.

Probably were mimicking their government. Ya know, stealing stuff and trying to buy a couple of mangos and a chicken.

I think we are not getting the entire story. I am just gonna toss this out but are we certain that Jack Bauer is not involved in this?

Could'a sworn this was an episode on 24.

Sad for them to be killed due to their actioons (they are not dead yet but will be soon). However, after sticking a gun in the guys face and and van-jacking him they deserve little else. Hopefully no one innocent got sick as there were only two gunmen.

reply to post by GrantedBail


Meh.. If they were in fact responsible for the car jacking, I don't feel bad for them. Somehow I doubt that they were really, good men with a history of kind and generous actions. You reap what you sow.

I hope their lack of responsibility doesn't lead to innocent people getting sick.

The article linked below contains the following paragraph indicating uncertainty about whether all of the Cobalt-60 was found:

Around 40 grams of cobalt-60 were found about half a mile from the abandoned lorry. It has not yet been revealed how much of the radioactive material remains missing.

No other mention in the article, that material might still be missing.


Story link

Anyone heard any different?