CAPSULE IN CRASH
Rescuers Exposed To Radiation (Rec. 9.30 p.m.) JOHANNESBURG, Dec. 2. The South African Atomic Energy Board has decided to investigate the circumstances of a road crash in which rescuers were exposed to radiation from a capsule containing radioactive cobalt The inch-long capsule lay unnoticed among the wreckage of a car which had been in collision with a lorry at an intersection about six miles from Johannesburg yesterday afternoon. The driver of the car and his passenger were killed. The force of the impact sent the container of 3in thick lead casing crashing through the locked boot of the car on to the roadway, were it burst. Motorists who stopped at the scene were not aware of the radiation danger. Three men from the Johannesburg office of a company dealing in radioactive materials made a high-speed dash to the scene. They used 6ft tongs to replace the capsule in its container. A check for contamination will be made later today.
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Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29068, 3 December 1959, Page 17
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162CAPSULE IN CRASH Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29068, 3 December 1959, Page 17
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