UK couple poisoned by Novichok, close to where Skripals were poisoned by same nerve agent
Man and woman found unconscious in Wiltshire, police say no evidence they were targeted
The couple, thought to be Dawn Sturgess and Charlie Rowley, who were poisoned by nerve agent Novichok, seven miles away from where ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned by the same agent (Source: Facebook)
A couple who were found unconscious in Wiltshire were poisoned using Novichok, the same nerve agent used to poison ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, the police have said.
The man and woman, reported to be Charlie Rowley, 45, and Dawn Sturgess, 44, fell ill at their house in Amesbury on Saturday, just seven miles from where the Skripals were poisoned in Salisbury. They are currently in critical condition.
The Metropolitan Police said no one else presented with the same symptoms, and there is currently “nothing” in the couple’s background to indicate that they had been targeted.
Neil Basu, Met Police Assistant Commissioner said it was not yet known whether the nerve agent came from the same batch as that used to poison the Skripals, adding however that this remained a “clear line on enquiry”.
The police are undertaking a “very detailed examination of the couple’s movements”, Basu said, in order to determine the location they were poisoned.
He advised the public not to pick anything up if they aren’t sure what it is, since police “have no idea what may have contained the nerve agent at this time”.
