Six tested for radiation now face questions in Mexico radioactive theft

Six males potentially exposed to radioactive material stashed inside a stolen truck were examined at a Mexico hospital on Friday, a day after authorities said they'd recovered all of the potentially deadly substance.

All six tested at Pachuca General Hospital were negative for radiation poisoning, Hidalgo state health official Jose Antonio Copca said. They were released around 6:10 p.m. (7:10 p.m. ET), the state's health agency said in a statement.

After their release, the six were to be interrogated by authorities to determine if they were involved in the theft of cobalt-60, said Jose Luis Manjarrez, a spokesman for Mexico's Attorney General's office.

The six live near where the dangerous material had been, though Copca said only one showed symptoms such as nausea and headaches consistent with radiation poisoning. They were taken to Pachuca General, in the state capital of Hidalgo, by federal police officers, according to the state health agency.

Earlier Friday, the state-run Notimex news agency quoted Copca as saying the six -- ages 16, 22, 24, 25, 37 and 38 -- had apparently come into contact with or otherwise been in the vicinity of cobalt-60 about 12 hours after the truck containing it was stolen Monday in Tepojaco.