Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in critical condition in England
Former military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal was sentenced to 13 years in prison after being convicted in 2006 in Russia of spying for Britain. Reuters reported that Skripal had passed the identity of dozens of spies to the U.K.'s MI6 foreign intelligence agency. He was freed in 2010 as part of a U.S.-Russian spy swap.
Skripal, 66, and a 33-year-old woman were found unconscious Sunday afternoon on a bench in a shopping mall in Salisbury, which is located about 90 miles west of London.
A dramatic decontamination effort followed their discovery, with crews in billowing yellow suits working into the night spraying down the street, and the hospital emergency room where they were taken closed.
A local Italian restaurant and a pub were also shut "as a precaution," but authorities said there is no further risk to the wider public. Both remained closed Tuesday.
Police said a small number of emergency services personnel were assessed after the incident and all but one have been released from hospital. Counter-terrorism specialists were supporting police in their investigation.
Though authorities are trying to keep an open mind, the incident drew parallels to the death of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned with radioactive polonium 11 years ago in London.
"I think we have to remember that Russian exiles are not immortal, they do all die and there can be a tendency for some conspiracy theories," Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Mark Rowley told the BBC.
Skripal, 66, and a 33-year-old woman were found unconscious Sunday afternoon on a bench in a shopping mall in Salisbury, which is located about 90 miles west of London.
A dramatic decontamination effort followed their discovery, with crews in billowing yellow suits working into the night spraying down the street, and the hospital emergency room where they were taken closed.
A local Italian restaurant and a pub were also shut "as a precaution," but authorities said there is no further risk to the wider public. Both remained closed Tuesday.
Police said a small number of emergency services personnel were assessed after the incident and all but one have been released from hospital. Counter-terrorism specialists were supporting police in their investigation.
Though authorities are trying to keep an open mind, the incident drew parallels to the death of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned with radioactive polonium 11 years ago in London.
"I think we have to remember that Russian exiles are not immortal, they do all die and there can be a tendency for some conspiracy theories," Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Mark Rowley told the BBC.
Source: nbcnews
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