Mexican authorities have issued an alert after thieves stole a pickup truck with radioactive material aboard.
The Interior Department said late Sunday the stolen material was iridium-192 and distributed a photo showing a hand-held metal cylinder with a yellow protective cover.
The department said in an alert posted late Sunday that the material was used by an industrial maintenance company.
It said the canister was aboard a 10-year-old pickup truck stolen Saturday in San Juan del Rio, an industrial city north of Mexico City.
The department said the material was not dangerous unless removed from its protective container.
There have been a half-dozen thefts of radioactive material in Mexico in the last two years. The hazardous materials have been recovered in the previous five cases.
