Australia has issued an alert over a missing radioactive capsule. There is a "radioactive substance risk" in Western Australia. The search is now on for the tiny capsule. It contains the harmful substance Caesium-137. It has enough of this radioactive material to "cause serious health consequences". The capsule went missing while it was being transported from a mining town. Officials think it fell through a hole in the truck transporting it.

The chief health officer urged caution. He warned: "Exposure to this substance could cause radiation burns or severe illness." He added: "If you are very close to the material, the radiation risk increases immensely and could cause serious damage to your health, including causing radiation burns to the skin." He said that being a metre of the capsule could expose someone to radiation levels that are the same as having ten X-rays.