Novichok confirmed as nerve agent that left two Britons in critical condition near where Russian spy was struck down

WORLD / Crime & Legal

Novichok confirmed as nerve agent that left two Britons in critical condition near where Russian spy was struck down

The U.K.'s head of counterterrorism policing, Neil Basu, and chief medical officer for England Dame Sally Davies hold a news conference at New Scotland Yard in London Wednesday. British police say a couple who are critically ill were exposed to the Russian nerve agent Novichok. | JOHN STILLWELL / PA / VIA AP

Reuters

Jul 5, 2018

AMESBURY, ENGLAND – Two British citizens were critically ill in a hospital on Wednesday after they were poisoned with the Novichok nerve agent, which struck down a former Russian agent and his daughter in March, Britain’s top counterterrorism officer said.

The British pair, a 44-year-old woman and a 45-year-old man, were hospitalized after being found unwell on Saturday in Amesbury, just a few miles from Salisbury, where ex-double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were attacked in March.

“I have received test results from Porton Down (military research center) which show that the two people have been exposed to the nerve agent Novichok,” Neil Basu, Britain’s most senior counterterrorism officer, told reporters.