NERVE AGENT FOUND IN PUB, RESTAURANT
British cops gather 200 pieces of evidence, identify more than 240 witnesses
TRACES of a nerve agent used in the suspected attempted murder of a Russian ex-spy have been found in a pub and a restaurant he visited, England’s chief medical officer said yesterday.
Dr Sally Davies said up to 500 people, who visited The Mill pub and Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury, southwest England, needed to wash their clothes and belongings as a precaution.
The March 4 attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, is being investigated as attempted murder. The pair were found slumped on a bench. They remain in a critical, but stable condition in hospital.
“There has been some trace contamination by the nerve agent in The Mill pub and Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury,” Dr Davies said.
“Some people are concerned long-term exposure to these substances may, over weeks and particularly months, give rise to health problems.
“I am therefore advising the people who were in either the restaurant or the pub at 1.30pm last Sunday until evening closing on Monday, should clean the clothes they wore and the possessions they handled there.”
Pub and restaurant-goers were told to wash their clothing in the washing machine, while dry clean-only clothes should be put inside two tied plastic bags and safely stored while awaiting advice.
Mobile phones, handbags and electronic items should be wiped with sanitary wipes, which then be disposed of in domestic waste. Jewellery and spectacles should be hand-washed in warm water and detergent, before being rinsed in cold water.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd, Britain’s interior minister, said Saturday that police were examining more than 200 pieces of evidence, had identified more than 240 witnesses, and were ploughing through security camera footage.
Around 180 troops, including chemical warfare experts, have been deployed in Salisbury after investigators requested specialist assistance.