Shades of Skripal case in ‘major UK incident’
Fears for couple found near where Russians poisoned
British police have declared a “major incident” after two people were exposed to an unknown substance in a town near where a former Russian spy and his daughter were poisoned with nerve agent.
In a statement, Wiltshire Police said a man and a woman — both in their 40s — are in critical condition after being found in Amesbury, 13km from Salisbury, where Sergei and Yulia Skripal were poisoned on March 4.
Police yesterday were cordoning off places the people visited before falling ill, but public health officials said there was not believed to be a wider risk. They were hospitalised on Saturday for suspected drug overdoses.
Detectives say they are “openminded” as to the cause of their condition and further tests are being carried out.
The man and woman are in a critical condition at Salisbury District Hospital, which is where the Skripals were treated after their poisoning.
Britain accuses Russia of poisoning the Skripals with a Novichok nerve agent. Moscow denies the allegation. The poisoning sparked a Cold Warstyle diplomatic crisis between Russia and the West, including the expulsion of hundreds of diplomats from both sides.
The statement from Wiltshire Police came only a month after police from 40 departments in England and Wales returned to their home assignments after months of working on the Skripals’ poisoning.
The Wiltshire Police force spent about £7.5 million ($14.6m) dealing with the aftermath of the Skripals’ poisoning and believe that his front door was contaminated with the nerve agent.
Sergei Skripal, 66, is a former Russian intelligence officer who was convicted of spying for Britain before coming to the UK as part of a 2010 prisoner swap.
He had been living quietly in Salisbury, a cathedral city located 145km southwest of London, when he was struck down along with his 33-year-old daughter.
After being found unconscious in the street, the two spent weeks in critical condition at the hospital.
Doctors who treated the Skripals said at the time said they expected them to die.
They say they still don’t know what their long-term prognosis is.
Wiltshire Police said they initially thought the man and woman “fell ill after using possibly heroin or crack cocaine from a contaminated batch of drugs”.
“However, further testing is now ongoing to establish the substance which led to these patients becoming ill and but that “we are keeping an open mind as to the circumstances surrounding this incident,” the police statement said.