A British couple hospitalized in critical condition were exposed to the same nerve agent that nearly killed former Russia spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in March, London’s Metropolitan Police said Wednesday.
Authorities did not say whether the couple, identified by multiple media outlets as 45-year-old Charlie Rowley and 44-year-old Dawn Sturgess, were exposed to the same batch of Novichok that poisoned Sergei and Yulia Skripal. Samples from both patients had been sent to the Porton Down defense research laboratory for testing.
Metropolitan Police spokesman Neil Basu said the agency’s counterterrorism officers were leading the investigation.
“The possibility that these two investigations might be linked is clearly a line of enquiry for us,” said Basu, who added that there was “nothing” in the couple’s background to suggest that they were targeted for poisoning. No one else has reported similar symptoms to the victims.
Wiltshire Police declared a “major incident” earlier Wednesday, four days after the couple were found unconscious at a home in Amesbury. Amesbury is eight miles from Salisbury, where the Skripals were found unconscious March 4. – READ MORE
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