PERTH, Australia (AP) — A mining corporation apologized for losing a highly radioactive capsule over a 1,400-kilometer (870-mile) stretch of Western Australia, as authorities combed parts of the road looking for the tiny but dangerous substance.
The capsule was part of a device believed to have fallen off a truck while being transported between a desert mine site and the city of Perth on Jan. 10.
The truck transporting the capsule arrived at a Perth depot on Jan. 16. Emergency services were notified of the missing capsule on Jan. 25.
Western Australia emergency services have called on other Australian states and the federal government for support finding the capsule as they lack equipment. The capsule measures 8 millimeters by 6 millimeters (0.31 inches by 0.24 inches), and people have been warned it could have unknowingly become lodged in their car’s tires.
The caesium 137 ceramic source, commonly used in radiation gauges, emits dangerous amounts of radiation, equivalent of receiving 10 X-rays in an hour. It could cause skin burns and prolonged exposure could cause cancer.
The chief executive of the mining giant Rio Tinto Iron Ore, Simon Trott, on Sunday said the company was taking the incident very seriously and apologized for causing public concern.
“We recognize this is clearly very concerning and are sorry for the alarm it has caused in the Western Australian community,” Trott said. “As well as fully supporting the relevant authorities, we have launched our own investigation to understand how the capsule was lost in transit.”
The search has involved people scanning for radiation levels from the device along roads used by the trucks, with authorities indicating the entire 1,400-kilometer (870-mile) route might have to be searched.
Western Australia’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services publicly announced the capsule had gone missing on Friday, two days after they were notified by Rio Tinto.
Trott said the contractor was qualified to transport the device and it had been confirmed being on board the truck by a Geiger counter prior to leaving the mine.
Police determined the incident to be an accident and no criminal charges are likely.
Officials have warned the public of the risks in touching a small capsule containing a radioactive substance that was lost during transportation in Western Australia.
The silver, round capsule, which measures about a quarter of an inch in diameter and is about a third of an inch tall, contains a small quantity of radioactive Caesium-137, a substance used within gauges in mining operations. Australia’s Department of Health has warned of the material’s serious health consequences.
The capsule left a mine site north of the town of Newman by road on January 12, according to a statement released by Western Australia’s Department of Fire & Emergency Services (DFES) on Saturday.
It was being sent to the northeastern suburbs of Perth for repairs. The package holding the capsule arrived in Perth on January 16 and was unloaded and kept in a secure radiation store.
However, when the package was opened for inspection on Wednesday, the gauge was found to be broken apart with screws missing – and the capsule was not there.
Western Australia police notified DFES and the Hazard Management Agency that evening. A search is underway to find the capsule and safely contain it, according to DFES Country North chief superintendent David Gill.
“A multi-agency Incident Management Team, comprised of DFES, Department of Health, WA Police and other subject matter experts, are confirming the exact route and stops made during the journey from north of Newman,” he said in a statement on Friday.
“The start and finish of the transportation journey – the mine site north of Newman and the transport depot in the north-eastern suburbs of Perth – were among the locations searched” on Thursday and Friday, he added. “We are also combing roads and other areas in the search zone.”
The emergency services warned of a radioactive substance risk in parts of the Pilbara, Midwest Gascoyne, Goldfields-Midlands and Perth Metropolitan regions.
Exposure to Caesium-137 could cause radiation burns or radiation sickness. However, risk to the general community is relatively low, officials said.
“If people see the capsule or something that looks similar, stay away from it and keep others away from it too,” said Dr. Andrew Robertson, chief health officer and Radiological Council chair, in a statement on Friday.
“Do not touch or pick it up. The public is asked to report it immediately by calling 13 DFES (13 33 37),” he added, advising anyone who touches or goes close to the material for a long period of time to seek medical care.
“If you are very close to the material or touching it, the radiation risk increases immensely and could cause serious damage to your health, including causing radiation burns to the skin,” Robertson said.
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Perth authorities have called off a search for an experienced swimmer after a double shark attack off a beach in Western Australia.
It was unclear from witnesses if Paul Millachip, 57, was attacked by two sharks or attacked twice by the same 14-foot great white shark, according to police. Some witnesses reported seeing two dorsal fins.
The father of two, who had moved from London to Perth, was swimming off a beach in North Fremantle when the attack occurred Friday morning. Minutes earlier, a group of teenagers had spotted a great white off the beach and jumped in their dinghy to warn people.
They were close to Millachip when he was attacked — and tried in vain to help him.
They “witnessed the attack and … provided police with information on what they saw and heard,” Acting Inspector Troy Douglas told Australian Broadcasting Corp. News.
He called the teens’ attempt to help Millachip a “fantastic effort” but “probably something you don’t want to see.” They also did a “great job of alerting other people on the beach and other swimmers,” he added.
Authorities were attempting to determine if a great white shark circled around to attack Millachip a second time or if the swimmer was also attacked by a tiger shark.
The search was call off after only Millachip’s swimming goggles were found.
“Inquiries will continue based on anything that is washed up or anything that’s found in the future, but at this point the marine search is suspended,” said Douglas, The Yorkshire Post reported.
Millachip’s wife, who asked not to be named, was sitting on the beach when the attack occurred.
She offered a “special mention to those young lads in the boat for what they did in what must have been an absolutely terrifying experience for them. My heart goes out to them, and I thank them for what they did,” she told journalists at the beach. (Check out the video above,)
They “could potentially have saved other lives,” she added.
“Rest in peace, Paul,” she said. “He died [doing] what he enjoyed doing the most. … He was a wonderful man, a wonderful father.”
The attack “came out of the blue. But it did happen, you just have to deal with it,” she said.
PERTH, Australia (AP) — An out-of-control wildfire burning northeast of the Australian west coast city of Perth has destroyed an estimated 30 homes and was threatening more Tuesday, with many locals across the region told it is too late to leave.
The 7,000-hectare (17,000-acre) blaze, which has a 75-kilometer (47-mile) perimeter, began on Monday and raged through the night near the town of Wooroloo, with the shires of Mundaring, Chittering, Northam, and the city of Swan impacted.
Swan Mayor Kevin Bailey said more than 30 homes are believed to have been destroyed.
“We are just waiting for confirmation of the numbers but we’re looking somewhere in the vicinity of 30-plus homes lost,” Bailey said.
Bailey said one firefighter had been treated for smoke inhalation. There had been no other injuries.
Western Australia’ state’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services Deputy Commissioner Craig Waters said the fire had doubled in size overnight and burned through 7,366 hectares (18,202 acres) of farm and woodland.
“Strong winds are hampering us getting in and containing the fire and bringing it under control,” he said.
State Premier Mark McGowan said 80% of all properties near Gidgegannup on Perth’s northeast rural fringe have been lost.
Firefighters would investigate whether there had been any loss of life, he said.
McGowan said a large aerial tanker was flying from the Australian east coast to help fight the blaze.
“This is an extremely dangerous fire and a serious situation. Weather conditions are extremely volatile,” McGowan said.
“Please do everything you can to keep you and your family safe and look after each other,” he added.
People in a 25-kilometer (16-mile) stretch west from Wooroloo to the Walyunga National Park northeast of Perth had been told Tuesday it had become too dangerous to leave their homes.
“You must shelter before the fire arrives, as the extreme heat will kill you well before the flames reach you,” the latest warning said.
Roads out of semi-rural suburb The Vines on Perth’s northern outskirts were bumper-to-bumper with traffic, making some people choose to stay.
Melissa Stahl, 49, heeded a text telling her to evacuate.
“I could smell the fire and went out the back and the whole yard was filled with smoke,” she said. “We grabbed bedding, photos, the two kids and the dog and got out of there,” she added.
A warning to other threatened areas told people to leave if they are not prepared to fight the blaze. The bushfire is unpredictable and weather conditions are rapidly changing, the warning said, urging people to stay vigilant.
The cause of the blaze is unknown.
Department of Fire and Emergency Services Superintendent Peter Sutton said about 250 firefighters had been battling erratic fire behavior.
“It has made it very hard, near on impossible … to suppress this fire,” Sutton said.
Wildfires are common during the current South Hemisphere summer. However the season has been mild on Australia’s southeast coast which was devastated by massive fires last summer.
The Perth metropolitan area and the Peel and South West regions of the Australian state are now under “full lockdown,” Premier Mark McGowan announced Sunday, with residents only able to leave their homes for essential shopping, medical needs, exercise, and for jobs that cannot be done at home or remotely.
Schools, most businesses, entertainment venues and places of worship are all closed, and restaurants restricted to takeaway only.
“This is a very serious situation and each and every one of us has to do everything we personally can to help stop the spread in the community,” McGowan said.
The Perth metropolitan area and the Peel and South West regions have a combined population of more than 2 million people, with the vast majority living in the state capital Perth.
The drastic measures come after a man in his twenties who worked as a security guard at the Sheraton Four Points, a hotel quarantine facility, tested positive for the coronavirus. Of the four active cases at the hotel while the man was on shift, two were carrying the United Kingdom strain and one the South African strain of the virus, which are believed to be more contagious than other variants.
“We are told the guard was working on the same floor, as a positive UK variant case,” McGowan said. As the man had worked two 12-hour shifts on January 26 and 27, it was possible he had contracted the UK strain, the Premier added, though he said “exactly how the infection was acquired remains under investigation.”
Officials are calling on all people who visited a specified list of venues on a certain date to get tested. All close contacts of the man are required to quarantine for 14 days.
“Western Australians have done so well for so long but this week it is absolutely crucial that we stay home, maintain physical distancing and personal hygiene and get tested if you have symptoms,” McGowan said.
With a population of around 2.76 million, Western Australia has recorded 902 coronavirus cases since the pandemic began, though it currently only has 12 active cases, according to the state’s health department. Over 800 of the state’s confirmed cases are among international travelers and people who arrived by cruise or other vessel, with less than 100 locally-transmitted cases in total.
Australia has recorded a total of 28,811 cases, with 909 deaths, the majority of which occurred in the southeastern states of Victoria and New South Wales. The country has shown success in controlling the coronavirus through stringent lockdowns and tight border controls, with all international visitors required to undergo testing and quarantine.
Last year, the southern state of Victoria was placed under tight lockdown for almost two months in order to contain an outbreak around the city of Melbourne.
But while the broader measures were effective, officials in the state faced criticism for a “hard lockdown” that was enforced against nine public housing towers in Melbourne. Around 3,000 residents of the towers were not given advance warning of the lockdown, which prevented them from leaving their homes for any reason for over five days.
Last month, an official investigation into the restrictions found they “breached human rights,” and were not based on direct health advice.
CNN’s Jessie Yeung and James Griffiths contributed reporting.
