Cobalt Theft

In 1999, 6 people attempted to steal radioactive cobalt-60 rods from a chemical plant in Chechnya. During the theft, the suspects opened the radioactive material container and handled it, resulting in the deaths of 3 of the suspects and injury of the remaining three. The suspect who held the material directly in his hands died of radiation exposure 30 minutes later. This incident is described as an attempted theft, but some of the rods are reportedly still missing.