British counterterrorism police in Amesbury are investigating a new incident of possible poisoning. A man and a woman were found unconscious at a home on Saturday, causes unknown.
This incident took place only about eight miles from the town of Salisbury, where Sergey and Yulia Skripal were poisoned on March 4, allegedly by a “Novichok” type of nerve agent.
Initially, the authorities believed that the pair found Saturday had taken a bad dose of heroin or crack cocaine, but according to the New York Post:
“However, further testing is now ongoing to establish the substance which led to these patients becoming ill and we are keeping an open mind as to the circumstances surrounding this incident,” Wiltshire police said in a statement. “At this stage, it is not yet clear if a crime has been committed.”
London’s Metropolitan Police said that, “given the recent events in Salisbury,” counterterrorism agents were aiding local police in their investigation.
The man and woman were being treated at Salisbury District Hospital — where the Skripals spent weeks in critical condition.
Scientists at Britain’s defense laboratory at Porton Down are conducting tests to determine whether the two incidents are related.
But sources told The Sun that the two were exposed to toxins and are exhibiting similar symptoms to the Skripals.
News.com.Au (Australian News) reported that the Wiltshire police have declared this situation a “major incident.” This declaration allows the British authorities to mobilize multiple emergency agencies.
We've declared a major incident after it is suspected that two people might have been exposed to an unknown substance in Amesbury. Full details here: https://t.co/yaaUqH97Te pic.twitter.com/xryG8Cy7nV
— Wiltshire Police (@wiltshirepolice) July 4, 2018
Already speculation has bubbled up surrounding the similarities of this incident to the one with the Skripals, as well as attempts to try to conflate the locations of the two. What is different though is that these two people are British citizens, not Russians, and more significant still, nothing clear is known about this incident at all.
The investigation is still in a very early stage so at this time nothing is known, nor can any connections or conclusions be reached about anything.
The man and woman, whose names have not been released thus far, are in the same hospital that treated the Skripals for their poisoning. The Skripals themselves both have recovered completely, and have since been taken to an undisclosed location for their protection, this according to all reports on the incident.
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