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Comment by zrail | Hacker News Reader

"They will, without a doubt, die."

Pretty grim news for the thieves but you can't say they weren't warned. Medical waste has pretty big warning stickers all over, and you'd think the radiation symbol would be pretty universal in this day and age.

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Fortunately/unfortunately, it's also probably not true. A previous incident in which people were exposed to Cobalt-60 over the course of several days caused 3 to die, and several more to become ill. If they just opened it up, saw it was a big chunk of nonsense, and left it on the side of the road, they'll probably be fine.

If they didn't actually touch the stuff, probably yes.

There's no way to know without knowing how much of the stuff was in the container. There could conceivably be enough to kill after brief exposure to the chest and head. If they picked any of it up, they will absolutely lose fingers or hands.

I was surprised as well that they said they would die. I find that very unlikely without more details.

Well according to a comment on the reddit discussion 28 seconds of exposure from a meter away is a lethal dose. No one just opens something for only 28 seconds, or stands a full meter away from it. God forbid if they actually touched the stuff.

Wouldn't that require knowing how much Cobalt-60 there was? Or is it always shipped in standard sized units?

They will 100% definitely die. Whether it's because of this, or soon, is a different question.

Or the police hope to scare them into seeking medical help or turning themselves in for hope of some sort of help.

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