Tiny radioactive capsule lost in Western Australia

Authorities in Western Australia were still 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, officials said Saturday.

Emergency services said they were hampered by a lack of equipment and have called on the Commonwealth and other states to provide assistance.It is believed to have fallen off the back of a truck on a 1,400-kilometer journey from the Rio Tinto mine in Newman to the Perth suburb of Malaga.

Chief Health Officer Andrew Robertson said the unit emits the equivalent of 10 X-rays in an hour and members of the public should stay at least 5 meters away.Contact could result in skin damage, burns and radiation sickness, including impacts to the immune and the gastrointestinal systems.