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AMESBURY, England (AP) – British officials investigating a second poisoning case with the nerve agent Novichok in South Africa said Thursday they suspect the victims were not directly targeted his daughter.
Police say specialists have determined that a British couple in their 40s who visited the city of Salisbury were poisoned by the same lethal toxin – developed by the Soviet Union – that almost killed Sergei and Yulia Skripal in the same English city in March
The new victims are now critically ill in the same hospital that treated the Skripals. British Prime Minister Theresa May has blamed Russia for the first poisoning attack – an assertion of the Kremlin denies.
The unexplained poisoning of two British citizens in Salisbury, where a massive decontamination effort
Amesbury and other places that the latest victims visited, including a church, a pharmacy and a park in Salisbury, where the Skripals were found.
"The working assumption would be that they were victims of the previous attack, or something else, but they were directly targeted," Ben Wallace told the BBC. "
Britain's interior minister said the nerve agent was one of the anger I feel about the Russian state (in the Skripal case). the same variety as that used against Skripal and his daughter, but it is not clear that the two sampled cam from the same batch.
"What we are clear on this is the exact same agent from the Novichok family, "Home Secretary Sajid Javid said. "
Wallace said the Russian government could" put this wrong right "by providing details about the Skripal poisoning. He called on Moscow to provide information and "what they did."
"I'm waiting for the phone call from the Russian state," he said. (19659002) The new case has surfaced days before a NATO summit is expected to address worsening relations between Russia and the West. It also comes as Russia hosts the World Cup – a global monthlong extravaganza in which both the English and Russian soccer teams have advanced so far.
The Kremlin's spokesman says Russia is concerned with having a poisoning case. [19659002] "President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters Thursday.
Peskov noted Britain has rejected Russia's offer for a joint probe, adding that "the British side has not presented any evidence of Russia's involvement in this, besides unfounded accusations."
Police declared the case to "major incident" Wednesday, four days after a local couple – identified by friends as 44-year-old Dawn Sturgess and 45-year-old Charlie Rowley – were found collapsed at a residential building in Amesbury, eight miles (13 kilometers) from Salisbury.
Chemi Brechton-Gordon Hamish expert weapons said the latest victims are likely collateral debris from the Skripal attack.
"The Novichok gel that was smeared on the handle of the Skripals' was presumably transported in some device or syringe," he said. "
Andrea Sella, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at University College London, said Novichok nerve agents" are some of the most important things in the world. Designed to be quite persistent – they do not need to be used in the environment, or evaporating or decomposing quickly.
"That means that it has been contaminated by this material, it would remain a danger for a long time. These effects may be important in the context of contact with the source, "he said." So while the public at large is at remote chance that someone else might come into contact with it. "
Initially, the investigation was led by local police, but London's Metropolitan Police said counterterrorism detectives s Novichok. He said 100 officers had been assigned to the case.
Police said officers were called Saturday morning about a collapsed woman in Amesbury, then were summoned back into the evening after a man fell ill at the same property. Authorities at first thought the two had taken a batch of heroin or crack.
The Skripals' illness initially baffled doctors after they were found unconscious March 4 on a bench in Salisbury. Scientists at the Porton Down Defense Laboratory concluded they had been poisoned with Novichok, a type of nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
After spending weeks in critical condition, the Skripals slowly got better. They were released from the hospital and were taken to an undisclosed location for their protection. Doctors say they do not know the long-term prognosis for their health
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Katz reported from London. Danica Kirka and Jill Lawless in London Contributed to this story
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