The truck was waiting for a daybreak at a gas station in the state of Hidalgo when the drivers were jumped by two gunmen. They stole the truck but they did this without knowing what was inside. That is also why they opened the protective box. This action exposed them to fatal radiation level. ”The people who handled it will have severe problems with radiation. They will, without a doubt, die” said Mardonio Jimenez, a physicist and official with Mexico’s nuclear safety commission.
For two days, the Mexican authorities were alerted because a public danger existed without even being localized. Even more, the radioactive material could be used in a dirty bomb. When the missing truck was found, the Mexican authorities ordered a security perimeter in the area and a special procedure for determining the local radioactive contamination level was started. The cobalt-60 was recuperated.
