UK woman dies after exposure to Novichok

LONDON: Police launched a murder inquiry on Sunday after a woman died following exposure to the nerve agent Novichok in England, four months after the same type of chemical was used against a ex-Russian spy in an attack blamed on Moscow.

Prime Minister Theresa May said she was “appalled and shocked” by the death of Dawn Sturgess, a 44-year-old mother of three, and offered her condolences to the family.

Sturgess and Charlie Rowley, 45, fell ill last weekend in Amesbury, near Salisbury where former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were attacked with Novichok in March and have since recovered.

Novichok is a military-grade nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union.