Two Britons exposed to the Novichok Neurological Agent

UK counterterrorism police confirmed that a seriously ill couple in the English village of Amesbury was exposed on Saturday to Novichok's neurotoxic agent.

It is the same toxin that was used to poison an ancient Russian. spy and his daughter in the nearby town of Salisbury in March

The anti-terrorism police are now conducting the investigation into the incident after tests at the Porton Down Defense Laboratory confirmed the nature of the substance, that Britain says to be Soviet- The chief of counterterrorism police, Neil Basu, told reporters: "It's the same nerve agent, but we never know if it's the same group that must be determined by scientists. "

"The priority for the investigation team now, is to establish how these two people came in contact with this neurotoxic agent."

M. Basu said that there was no evidence to suggest that the 45-year-old man and the woman, 44, named Charlie Basley and Dawn Sturgess, "were targeted in any way whatsoever. "

He got sick on Saturday in Amesbury in southwestern England, near the place where former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia collapsed on a bench on March 4 in an incident that triggered a bitter diplomatic crisis with Russia. Investigations could be related is clearly a line of inquiry for us, "said Mr. Basu.

But Mr. Basu said that there was no evidence that the both man and woman had "recently visited one of the sites that were decontaminated."

"This remains a low risk for the general public," he said.

"We are confident that if anyone was exposed to this level of nerve agent, he would now show symptoms. "[19659013] Police initially badumed but samples of both patients were sent to Porton Down on Monday" due to the anxiety aroused by the symptoms that the man and the woman were showing, "said Mr. Basu

.They are still in critical condition and are at the Salisbury District Hospital – the same institution where the Skripals were treated.

Sam Hobson, 29, told AFP that i He was a friend and that he had seen the man get sick.

"He was sweating, he was dribbling, and you could not talk to him, he was making strange noises and he was rocking back and forth," said Mr. Hobson

"It's as if he were in another world. "

Interior Minister Sajid Javid said he would chair an emergency cabinet meeting Thursday on the case and a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Theresa May said that she was "regularly updated" on the situation.

said that they were "shocked" that their quiet district was again striking

Sergei Skripal, 67, and his 33-year-old daughter, Yulia, who had come from Moscow, collapsed in Salisbury in March and were treated for a long time before being released from the hospital.

Nick Bailey, a policeman who came to their rescue, was also taken to the hospital

Police said that they suspected that the nerve agent could have been smeared on a front door handle in liquid form

. the involvement in the Skripal poisoning, which triggered a diplomatic crisis that saw Russia and the West expel dozens of diplomats in the tit-to-tat movements.