Goiânia Accident - South America's Nuclear Tragedy

On September 13, 1987, some men cracked open an abandoned source of cesium-137. What followed was one of the world's worst nuclear accidents.

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[kylehill]

*Thanks for watching* and thanks to my Brazilian [STAFF] members for pronunciation help. Not many outside of Latin America known about what happened here, so I'm doing my best to bring it to light.

*One mistake poined out by Diogo Figueiredo*
The woman on the picture is not Maria Gabriela. That's famous Brazilian actress Betty Faria. Devair was holding the actress's picture after she visited him in the hospital.

[yourlocalgymthot]

"That's when he noticed that the particles in his garage were glowing blue."

Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope.

[millennialacademy]

These make me realize that several ancient stories of “cursed items” or “blighted lands” could have just been the accidental unearthing of naturally radioactive minerals.

[sapphic_suffering]

I'm from Goiânia. My grandparents actually knew the little girl Leide Das Neves; she lived near their house. They were banned from their home at the time, and my mom and uncles, who were kids back then, were sent to my great-uncle's house in Brasília. My great-grandfather died of cancer afterwards from radiation because he refused to stay away from his house and keept going back there for his belongings. Years later, there were still remains of the radiation, and when I was born, my mom took me to get examined for any signs of radiation affecting her pregnancy.

Thank you for telling this story in such a respectful manner.

[josiahhockenberry]

Hearing how the little girl died from playing with what she thought was fairy dust absolutely broke my heart. RIP child.

[comedyman]

Between this and the Chernobyl tv series, I've learned one thing: if your radiation meter seems to be broken, RUN.

[jimena]

“The pieces in his garage were glowing, and glowing blue”
The way my heart dropped. Glowing blue never leads to anything good in this series...

[PaullaLuizza]

As a Brazilian... I must say...

Thank you for the respectful way to tell those people's history.

As sad as it was, the lesson remains.

[Javra]

"I fell in love with the glow of death."

-- Devair (died 7 years later after the accident with Cesium).

[jooleebilly]

Maria Gabriela Ferreira deserves credit, too, for being the first to recognize that it was the glowing blue powder, not tropical diseases or food poisoning that was making people around her (and herself) sick. How much longer would it have gone on, misdiagnosed, if she hadn't taken that bus ride to tell the authorities? Rest in peace, Maria Gabriela.

[GoncalvesLF]

I'm from Goiânia!

Today this tragedy is being slowly forgotten here, everyone knows about the term "césio 137", but the events are remembered very superficially.
Here It's not uncommon to hear jokes about how the cesium is responsible for the locals people natural glow.

It's really significant to see you talking about the cesium incident today to so many people across the world, after all we need to remember our mistakes, as those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

[Zachary_Walker]

I’ll tell you all one thing. A radiation meter is NEVER broken. Your heart just wants to believe it is

[quackedoutmax]

13:45 "the 6 year old who though she was paying with fairy dust" is such a saddening phrase, she didnt know, nobody did, RIP little one, may you have safety in the afterlife.

[Oracios]

The mention that firefighters nearly threw That Bag into a RIVER sent chills down my spine...

[Gamepro]

This story is why everyone should be educated about radiation.

[Dovahkiin]

I find it morbidly hilarious that every time the dosimeter/Geiger counter maxes out in these stories, the first instinct is “must be broken”. Is the technology just unreliable or is it just sheer disbelief?

[roscob]

Possibly the most heartbreaking part of this to me was the little girl, Leide das Neves Ferreira, who thought she had gotten fairy dust. I can’t imagine the amount of fear and pain she was in.

[tmaz.m]

"There is something wrong with the meter." History only repeats itself.

[Jaws]

Thank that physicist who was able to stop the firefighters from throwing that cesium in the river!
Man deserves a medal!

[ElcioDaSilvaborba]

How can I ever forget this incident? At the time, I was 25 years old. It was horrifying to know whatever they went, they contaminated everyone, especially when carrying the Cesium137 around, on the city buses, and everywhere they went. It was a lesson we Brazilians have never forgotten. They made a movie over 30 years ago and now have restored the movie. It's called CÉSIO 137 - O pesadelo de Goiânia. It's in Portuguese.