Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Wednesday, July 4, 2018

BREAKING: Wiltshire pair 'poisoned by nerve agent'


July 5, 2018  2018  00H;23  GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME
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Media captionAmesbury pair poisoned by Novichok
by Selina O'Grady and Biodun Iginla, BBC News, Wiltshire, UK
A man and woman found unconscious in Wiltshire were poisoned by Novichok, the same nerve agent as ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal, police say.
The couple, believed to be Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgess, are in a critical condition having been found unconscious at a house on Saturday.
Police say no one else has presented with the same symptoms.
There was "nothing in their background" to suggest the pair were targeted, the Met Police said.
Dawn Sturgess and Charlie RowleyImage copyrightFACEBOOK
Image captionThe pair, believed to be Dawn Sturgess and Charlie Rowley, were found unconscious on Saturday
Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said it could not be confirmed whether the nerve agent came from the same batch that Mr Skripal, and his daughter Yulia, were exposed to.
However he said the possibility the two investigations were linked was "clearly a line of enquiry".
The Counter Terrorism Policing Network is now leading the investigation, working alongside Wiltshire Police.
The confirmation that the pair from Amesbury, Wiltshire came into contact with Novichok was confirmed following analysis at the defence research facility at Porton Down, Wiltshire.
As a precautionary measure, sites in Amesbury and Salisbury, believed to have been visited by the couple before they fell ill have been cordoned off.
There is no evidence to suggest either visited the sites that were decontaminated following the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal.
A map of the locations involvedImage copyrightOTHER
Home Secretary Sajid Javid said his thoughts were with the two individuals affected and thanked the emergency services and staff at Salisbury District Hospital.
He said the events follow "the reckless and barbaric attack which took place in Salisbury in March."
"The government's first priority is for the safety of the residents in the local area but as Public Health England has made clear, the risk to the general public is low," he said.
"Tomorrow [Thursday] I will chair a meeting of the government's emergency committee Cobra in relation to the ongoing investigation."

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