A container suspected of holding radioactive poison, the same type used by Russia to target its critics, was discovered in lieu of chocolate during an Easter egg hunt in southwest Germany. The small plastic bottle, labeled as “Polonium 210,” was found in the yard of a residence in Vaihingen an der Enz, near Stuttgart, on Easter Sunday. Two individuals found the container and promptly alerted emergency services, leading to the dispatch of 138 emergency personnel and 41 emergency vehicles to the location. Fortunately, both men remained unharmed.
The actual content of the 50-milliliter vial, believed to contain polonium-210, a highly lethal and rare isotope that is fatal if swallowed or inhaled and notoriously challenging to detect, has not been confirmed yet. This substance is linked to the deaths of Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
District fire chief Andy Dorroch mentioned that they presume the substance is indeed polonium-210, given the official label on the vial, which was not handwritten but properly marked. The weight of the vial, approximately 200 grams, aligns with a dense material like polonium-210, he further explained.
Despite this, initial tests for radioactivity at the site returned negative results, as stated by Dorroch. The Environment Ministry authorities have seized the vial for more comprehensive analysis.
In 2006, Litvinenko, a former KGB agent, fell severely ill after consuming tea spiked with polonium-210 at a London hotel. He passed away three weeks later at the age of 43.
Arafat, a prominent figure representing the Palestinian cause, allegedly fell victim to poisoning with the radioactive substance by Israel, a claim the country refutes. He died under mysterious circumstances at a French military hospital in 2004 at 75, a month after falling sick at his West Bank residence, which was under Israeli blockade.
In 2012, Switzerland’s Institute of Radiation Physics detected traces of polonium-210 on some of Arafat’s possessions. Subsequently, soil and bone samples were taken from his burial site in the West Bank. Al Jazeera released the Swiss team’s 108-page report in 2013, indicating that the findings “moderately support the notion that the death resulted from polonium-210 poisoning.”
