Tiny radioactive capsule lost in Australia triggers search

PERTH, Australia (AP) — Authorities in Western Australia are searching for a tiny but potentially deadly radioactive capsule that got lost while being transported on a truck from a mine to a depot in the city of Perth. Emergency services say they’re hampered by a lack of equipment and have called on the Commonwealth and other states to provide assistance. The Department of Fire and Emergency Services has deployed teams with handheld radiation detection devices and metal detectors along 22 miles of a busy freight route to look for the unit, which measures 0.31 inches by 0.24 inches. It is believed to have fallen off the back of a truck on a 870-mile journey. It is said to emit the equivalent of 10 X-rays in an hour.