On 13 September 1999, six people tried to steal ^60^Co rods from a chemical plant in the city of Grozny, Chechen Republic. During the theft, the suspects opened the radioactive material container and handled it, resulting in the deaths of three of the suspects and injury of the remaining three. [Wikipedia]

The suspect who held the material directly in his hands died of radiation exposure 30 minutes later.

How long did he hold it!? Nobody at Chernobyl died nearly that fast from acute exposure alone IIRC.