Police Mission to Salisbury: A New Skripal Case?

In Salisbury, the anti-terrorism police investigate after a man and a woman were found unconscious in a residential building. They had already been in contact with an "unknown substance".

Following the appearance of an "unknown substance" near the British city of Salisbury, the British anti-terrorism investigation. A woman and a woman had already been found unconscious on Saturday in the village of Amesbury, a few kilometers away. They are still in mortal danger. Both are British

Anti-terrorist police officers investigated the case with local police, Scotland Yard said. The UK media also reports that samples of an unknown substance were taken to the Porton Down Laboratory for analysis.

The new case has parallels with the assassination attempt of former dual agent Sergej Skripal and his daughter. Amesbury is only a few miles from where the poisoning of the scripals took place in March.

"Serious Incident"

Police described the incident as "serious". The officials locked up a house, a church, a pharmacy and other places that the husband and wife had already visited.

Yet the authorities do not believe in an acute threat to the public. "At this point, it's not even clear if it's a crime," police said. The survey took place in all directions. It was first assumed that the couple had been in contact with contaminated drugs. However, other tests would be done.

Prime Minister Theresa May and key ministers are kept abreast of the progress of the investigation. According to May 's office, there was an emergency meeting.

"He looked like someone from another world."

The victims, both in their forties, are now at Salisbury Hospital, where the scripts were processed. were. The police had initially assumed that they had taken some contaminated drugs. As the British tabloid Sun reported, citing intelligence circles, the two would have similar symptoms to those of the Skripals.

A neighbor of the two, who also claims to be friends with them, told AFP: showed signs of illness first, the man a little later. According to him, the man looked at the symptoms as though he was "in another world". "He was extremely sweaty, sweat ran," said the neighbor. "You could not talk to him, he was making strange noises, and he was rocking back and forth."

Skripal and his daughter were found unconscious at a bank in Salisbury on March 4 and were hospitalized for weeks. The British government blames Russia for the poison attack and assumes that a neurotoxin from the Novitschok group of Soviet production was used. Russia vehemently rejects the allegations. The case has led to a deep gap between Russia and the United Kingdom.