Moscow's post office evacuated due to radiation alarm

The international post office in Moscow was evacuated Tuesday after radiation leveled 1 1/2 times higher than normal was detected coming from a package.

The package was emitting radiation, said Natalia Goncharova, a spokeswoman for the Emergency Situations Ministry.

A spokeswoman for a government agency called Radon said the package contained 30 compasses painted with a phosphorescent material she identified as radon-226.

The spokeswoman said the compasses were emitting radiation at a rate of about 300 microRoentgens an hour.

It was unclear where the packages had originated, the AP reports.