Tragic story of family who died after missing warning signs of radiation in kitchen

A family tragically died after they missed warning signs in their kitchen that gave clues to something being very wrong.

There are plenty of things that you would not want in your kitchen, such as dirt, mould, rats, and cockroaches. But in 1962, a family in Mexico ended up with something far more dangerous.

That's because their kitchen was contaminated by highly dangerous radioactive material, with several telltale signs pointing to the tragic truth.

When the family moved into the house in March of 1962, there was a small lead box which had been left there, according to a report by the family's doctor.

At some point between March and April, a Cobalt-60 capsule - a synthetic radioactive isotope usually produced in nuclear reactors - was removed from the container and was later found in the yard by the family's 10-year-old boy, before his mum put it away in a kitchen drawer.

The mum and grandmother were exposed to the radiation while cooking (Sana Grebinets/Getty Images)

Tragically, it was the boy, who had been directly exposed to the material for some time, who died first on April 29 that year.

The boy and his two-year-old sister had been less exposed to the Cobalt-60 while it was in the kitchen drawer, but the mum, who was pregnant, spent more time in there cooking for the family.

She would be the second member of the family to die, passing away on July 19.

During that time, the children's grandmother had come to stay at the house while the mum began to feel unwell.

While taking over in the kitchen, the grandmother noticed a chilling sign of the radioactive toxicity that was poisoning the family - some of the glasses kept close to the material had started to turn black.

The family was devastated by the radiation (Maskot/Getty Images)

This is an effect that radiation can have on glass, but sadly, it was too late for the family by this point.

Since the death of her brother and mother, the little girl had been spending more time in the house closer to the radioactive source.

She died on August 18, and her grandmother followed her on October 15.

The father, who would spend more time out of the house, was the only member of the family to survive the ordeal. When assessed, he was found to have received 990-1,200 radiation absorbed doses (rad), while the boy received 4,700-5,200 rad.

In a cruel twist of irony, the radiation capsule which killed four people had originated in the radiotherapy treatment unit at a nearby hospital.

It's not known how it ended up in the family's new home.