Doctors did not expect poisoned ex-spy to live

Britain calls for meeting of chemical attack agency

LONDON — Doctors who treated poisoned ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia say they expected the pair to die, and their long-term prognosis remains unknown.

The Skripals were found unconscious in the English city of Salisbury on March 4 after being exposed to a nerve agent known as Novichok. They spent weeks comatose in critical condition but have been discharged.

Britain says Russia was behind the poisoning. Moscow denies the allegation..

Britain called Tuesday for a special conference of the global chemical weapons watchdog “in response to shocking recent chemical attacks” including those in Salisbury, and in the Syrian civil war and by the Islamic State group in Iraq.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said the U.K. and 10 other countries, including the U.S., were calling for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to meet next month “to take action to reaffirm and defend the ban on chemical weapons.”

Sergei Skripal, 66, is a former Russian intelligence officer who was convicted of spying for Britain before coming to the U.K.

Medical staff at Salisbury District Hospital spoke to the BBC about their response when the Skripals were brought in, initially thought to be suffering from an opioid overdose.

Hospital medical director Christine Blanshard said “we don’t know” what the long-term effects will be.

“I think it’s safe to say that we’re still learning,” Blanshard said.