Three unlucky Chinese tourists chose wrong “souvenir” and imported over 200 kg of radioactive waste on their way back home.

Tourists say they have found this strange stone weighting as much as 274 kg in Kirgizia where they spent their vacation in August 2006. “Shining miracle”, an unofficial name of the stone, costed tourists $2000. They imported it in the country where planned to make a good deal reselling this miracle.

However, another miracle happened. Prior to selling the stone, tourists chopped a small piece off and sent it to geologists from Tsinghua University in Beijing, which specialists quickly determined stone’s real nature. Analysis showed “Shining miracle” was nothing else but a huge piece of depleted uranium.

Police quickly confiscated the “souvenir”, but travelers managed to escape prison as it was clear they didn’t know what they were importing. (more…)