An Easter egg hunt in south-western Germany took a worrying turn on Sunday when two men discovered a vial labelled "Polonium 210" in a garden, triggering an emergency response as authorities tested for the potentially lethal radioactive substance.
District fire chief Andy Dorroch said initial on-site measurements were carried out to detect radioactivity, but all of them came back negative. He added that the two men were unharmed.
The discovery led to a large-scale operation involving the fire brigade and police in the town of Vaihingen an der Enz, north-west of Stuttgart.
It remains unclear whether the 50-millilitre vial actually contained polonium 210.
The fire brigade will secure the vial in accordance with safety precautions, the fire chief said.
Reports said the area around the site where the bottle was found was cordoned off.
According to the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), the chemical element polonium is particularly dangerous if inhaled or absorbed through the skin via open wounds.
LATEST POSTS
- 1
IDF kills senior PIJ Gaza City Brigade cmdr. who infiltrated Kibbutz Nahal Oz on Oct. 7 - 2What's A Decent FICO rating?
- 3Shredded cheese recall: Multiple brands sold at Aldi, Target and Walmart affected over potential metal fragment contamination
- 4Brexit's Effect on New York's Ascent as a Main Monetary Center
- 5Step by step instructions to Guarantee the Life span of Your Dental Inserts: Support and Care Guide
- 2026 will be the year NASA astronauts fly around the moon again — if all goes to plan
- ‘Democratizing space’ is more than just adding new players – it comes with questions around sustainability and sovereignty
- 10 Setting up camp Shelters That Offer Both Excellence and Isolation
- German hauliers warn soaring energy prices may soon impact consumers
- College students are now slightly less likely to experience severe depression, research shows – but the mental health crisis is far from over
- Chicago reports first rabies-positive dog in 61 years. What we know.
- Ukraine's new defense minister just outlined how dire its troop shortage has become
- Illumina unveils dataset to speed up AI-powered drug discovery
- Ancient eggshells shed new light on crocodiles that hunted prey from trees
