Collapsed pair ‘not linked to Russia’
COUNTER-TERRORISM police are investigating after a couple were left in a critical condition when they were exposed to a mystery substance.
The pair, in their 40s, were found unconscious in a property in Muggleton Road, Amesbury, Wiltshire, on Saturday.
It is around eight miles from where former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with a nerve agent in March, but it is not thought that the individuals are linked in any way to Russia or to the Skripals.
A meeting of the Government’s Cobra emergencies committee took place at official level in the Cabinet Office on Wednesday to discuss the events.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “This is an incident which understandably is being treated with the utmost seriousness.
“Ministers and the Prime Minister are being kept updated and there was a meeting this morning of officials to receive updates on the facts of the situation.”
Wiltshire Police initially thought that the couple had taken contaminated crack cocaine or heroin, but then decided to carry out further tests and declared a major incident. It is understood that tests are being carried out on the substance at the Government chemical weapons research laboratory at Porton Down.
The Metropolitan Police, who lead the national counter-terrorism network, said in a statement: “Given the recent events in Salisbury, officers from the counter-terrorism network are working jointly with colleagues from Wiltshire Police regarding the incident in Amesbury.
“As Wiltshire Police have stated, they are keeping an open mind as to the circumstances surrounding the incident and will update the public as soon and as regularly as possible.”
The man and woman from Amesbury are in a critical condition in Salisbury District Hospital.
It is believed that one of the last places they were seen in public was a family fun day at Amesbury Baptist Centre on Saturday afternoon.
The church is one of a number of locations in Amesbury and Salisbury which has been cordoned off by police.
Church secretary Roy Collins said: “Last weekend we held a community fundraiser and we understand this may well be the last event this couple went to in public.
“We are all quite puzzled and shocked – naturally the connection with Salisbury and recent events there mean there is a heightened public interest.
“We are praying for the couple. One of our members knows them and clearly there are concerns for them and any others in the community.
“They are not church members or regulars.”
Mr Collins said around 200 people attended the event, including many families and children, but “nobody else has suffered any ill-effects”.