Two inspectors were promptly sent to the site who confirmed the presence of radioactive material in the scrap shop of the dealer. Their survey also indicated presence of radioactive material in two other shops in the neighborhood. As an immediate measure they provided shielding by covering the identified high-radiation locations with metal sheets to reduce the radiation levels. The designated emergency response agencies were notified, who were successful in locating and securing the radioactive pieces safely into shielded containers. As a result, the area was declared safe from radiological considerations.

As a follow up to the above incident, radiation survey of scrap metal shops in neighboring areas was carried out. Elevated radiation level in one of the scrap metal shops located around 500 m away from the earlier ones was detected. Subsequent search operation was successful in recovery of two additional radioactive Cobalt-60 sources. One more Cobalt-60 source was recovered from the possession of a patient admitted to another hospital in the city.

The dose assessments indicated that the scrap metal dealer who had reported to the hospital with radiation injuries has received a dose of 3.7 Gy. A total of 7 patients with radiation induced symptoms reported in various hospitals. Their assessed doses were in the range of 0.4Gy to 3.7 Gy. One of the affected persons who had received a radiation dose of 3.1Gy died in the hospital.

Subsequent investigations established that the radioactive Co-60 sources were from an old gamma cell. The total activity content when the cell was imported was 3978 Ci and the activity during this incident was 18.6 Ci.

All the radioactive sources originally present in the gamma cell were recovered and accounted for their number and source strength.