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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Radiated Soldiers Face Surgery

Associated Press

Ten soldiers contaminated by radioactive equipment at a military base will undergo surgery, officials said Saturday.

Three of the soldiers were described as critically ill.

Authorities had said last week that the soldiers, from a Georgian Border Guards’ training base on the outskirts of Tbilisi, had apparently been contaminated by improperly stored radioactive calibrating devices.

At a news conference Saturday, officials said 10 radioactive sources had been found at the base, which formerly housed a Soviet chemical warfare unit.

Mikhail Kolganovskiy, chief of a team of radiation illness experts from Moscow, said the servicemen had radiation burns on their skin that will require surgery.