TIL 4 people died (including a child) and over 200 were seriously injured after two men stole a caesium-137 radiotherapy device from an abandoned hospital and sold it for scrap, hoping to make money.
TIL 4 people died (including a child) and over 200 were seriously injured after two men stole a caesium-137 radiotherapy device from an abandoned hospital and sold it for scrap, hoping to make money.
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On September 16, Alves punctured the capsule's aperture window with a screwdriver, allowing him to see a deep blue light coming from the tiny opening he had created.[1] He inserted the screwdriver and successfully scooped out some of the glowing substance. Thinking it was perhaps a type of gunpowder, he tried to light it, but the powder would not ignite.
Because, naturally, gunpowder is something you’d expect to find in medical equipment.
It is pretty depressing to find this kind of reply here. If the person was ignorant enough to think that was gunpowder that obviously means they lack knowledge. Some of these people didn't even know what makes something radioactive. Do you really think the guy would give the powder for his 6yo daughter to play if he knew better?
Have some empathy for people less privileged than you.
You've saved someone who is almost certainly already dead from criticism on the internet. You've done absolutely nothing for no one, but you've put yourself in a position of moral superiority. Well done, I guess.
The intention wasn't to feel morally superior. I am from Brazil and I know these people didn't know better. They scavenged for scraps to live, most likely didn't go to high school. Just wish people were more empathetic, but I imagine that most of the user base here is quite privileged and don't know how poor and uninformed people can be in 3rd world countries.
Again, there’s uninformed, and there’s thinking the medical device you stole from the hospital could contain gunpowder. For me that crosses a line from simply not knowing any better to just not logically thinking something through at all. Common sense should tell you gunpowder isn’t at the hospital, unless you’re cauterizing wounds on the battlefield.
And I’m sure many people involved or who were exposed during this asked similar “how did this ever happen” questions at the time.
Pretty good assessment.
You’ll get over it.
Seriously, there’s not knowing about radiation and not thinking something is dangerous because it didn’t ignite with a flame, and then there’s thinking something salvaged from a hospital might contain gunpowder. These are two completely different levels of ignorance or perceived lack of privilege.
There’s also spreading cool glowing stuff across the floor of your home without having the first damn clue what it is. That is monumentally dumb.
Seriously, there’s not knowing about radiation and not thinking something is dangerous because it didn’t ignite with a flame, and then there’s thinking something salvaged from a hospital might contain gunpowder. These are two completely different levels of ignorance or perceived lack of privilege.
English isn't my first language so I don't understood what you meant by this. I think you just made me realize that the english might be confusing. The people that stole the equipment aren't the same that found it in the scrapyard. It is dumb but yes, they didn't know better.
As a Brazilian myself it felt disrespectful. I haven't seen anyone before judging people from this case like this.
No, that is very incorrect.
There are four main men involved, two with the name Alves…
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Robert dos Santos Alves (#1), who originally stole the equipment from the hospital with his friend Wagner Mota Pereira, disassembled it and opened the container, first freed glowing material and tried to burn what he thought could be gunpowder. Then sold it to the first scrapyard.
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Devair Alves Ferreira (#2), the owner of the scrapyard, who bought it as scrap from Alves #1, then noticed it was glowing and took it home and invited people over to look at it, before selling it to a different scrapyard, after two people already freed material from it.
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plus man #3, a friend of the first scrapyard owner (identified as "EF1" in the IAEA report), the second to free glowing grains after the original guy, who passed them around to friends and family, and infected his wife Maria, who was the only one with any common sense when she realized everyone was getting sick, then reclaimed the thing from the second scrapyard and took it to authorities.
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plus man #4, Ivo, the first scrapyard owner’s brother, who also freed glowing grains and took them and spread them on his floor, having no idea what it was, where it contaminated his daughter and her food.
So my first comment was only referencing the original Alves #1 with no daughter, and my reply references both him in the first part, and the 4th guy with a daughter in the second part.
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allowing him to see a deep blue light coming from the *roadside picnic he had created
Ftfy