Exposure to an "unknown substance": 2 people hospitalized in England, 4 months after the Skripal case



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Amesbury | The mystery surrounding Wednesday the hospitalization of two people exposed to an "unknown substance" and found unconscious in Amesbury, a city in southern England next to the one where the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal had been the victim of an attempt to Poisoning in March

Both patients "are in critical condition" and "are receiving treatment for an alleged exposure to an unknown substance at Salisbury Hospital," said Wiltshire County police the event as a "major incident". The anti-terrorist police were badociated with the investigation, as "procedural" because of the presence of an unknown substance, said Scotland Yard.

Both people, a man and a woman, both in their forties , were found unconscious Saturday, June 30 in a house in a modern residential area of ​​the city of Amesbury, located about ten kilometers from Salisbury.

"Saturday, I saw fire trucks and ambulances they have blocked the road, "said AFP Nathalie Smyth, a 27-year-old neighbor. "They said it was a chemical incident, and then it was drug related. Some people wore protective suits. "

In Salisbury, 66-year-old Sergei Skripal and his 33-year-old daughter, Yulia, were victims of an attempted poisoning on 4 March, an incident the United Kingdom attributed to Russia and led to a diplomatic crisis.

In Amesbury, the police originally speculated that heroin or crack that additional tests were now taking place "to establish the nature of the substance that led these patients to become ill."

"We remain open-minded about the circumstances of the incident," said Commissioner Angus Macpherson on the BBC. "There is no reason to think that this is related" to the Skripal case, he added. Samples were taken to the Porton Down Military Laboratory for testing

"Perplexed and shocked"

Several security cordones were set up in places where the two forty year olds could have gone before their contamination. The police presence was strengthened in both cities.

In Salisbury, the Queen Elizabeth Garden Public Garden was closed to the public, according to local Speyer radio. The police also positioned themselves in front of Amesbury Baptist Church, where both patients participated in an event over the weekend.

"We are all very puzzled and shocked," said the secretary. the church, Roy Collins. "Of course, the connection with Salisbury and the recent events brings increased public interest. There are concerns. "

The Public Health England Public Health Agency (PHE) estimated that this event posed" no significant health risk to the general public. "

This notice will be" continually re-evaluated , according to known information, "warned a spokesman for PHE quoted by the agency Press Association.

On March 4, Sergei and Yulia Skripal were found unconscious on a bench in an outdoor mall and hospitalized in critical condition at Salisbury Hospital. They had both been victims of poisoning with an innervating agent of the Novitchok family, according to the British government.

The first policeman to rescue them, Nick Bailey, was also infected and hospitalized in serious condition. All three had been treated for several weeks before being able to leave the hospital.

Nine contaminated sites

The police then squared the city of Salisbury with the help of the army. Several police cordonages had been installed, particularly around the former spy's house, as well as at Salisbury cemetery.

A chemical clean-up work, lasting for a "certain number of months", had been undertaken by experts on nine contaminated sites

London has pointed the responsibility of Moscow, which denied any involvement in this attempt at poisoning.

This event had led to a diplomatic crisis and the largest wave of expulsions Crossed Diplomats of History.

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