Amesbury incident - live updates: Couple in critical condition in Wiltshire have been poisoned, say reports
Follow the latest updates after 'major incident' declared in Wiltshire town four months after Salisbury attack
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A couple are fighting for their lives after being “poisoned” by an unknown substance that is undergoing testing at the Porton Down defence laboratory.
A major incident has been declared after Charlie Rowley, 45, and Dawn Sturgess, 44, were taken ill in Amesbury following exposure to the substance on Saturday.
Counterterror police have joined the investigation “because of the circumstances surrounding the incident” and the nerve agent attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in nearby Salisbury in March.
The couple remain in a critical condition in Salisbury District Hospital but Public Health England said there was not believed to be a significant health risk to the wider public.
Wiltshire Police said they were initially feared to have used contaminated heroin or crack cocaine but further testing is ongoing and investigators are keeping “an open mind”.
Downing Street said the prime minister was being given updates on the situation. The incident will be discussed at a meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee on Wednesday evening.
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The flat where the couple were found unconscious, in Muggleton Road, Amesbury, is one of several sites in the town and nearby Salisbury that have been cordoned off by police.
Nearby resident Chloe Edwards described seeing police cars, fire engines and people in “green suits” on Saturday night.
“We were just eating our dinner and all these emergency vehicles turned up,” the 17-year-old student said.
“They were putting on these green suits and we thought it was the gas as our electricity was turned off as well.”
Ms Edwards said the vehicles arrived at about 7pm and she and her family were told to stay inside their home until about 10pm.
“We wanted to know what happened and with the Russian attack happening not long ago, and we just assumed the worst,” she added.
“I am not sure how long they were in there but we couldn’t get out of the house for two-and-a-half hours.”
She added that firemen had connected a hosepipe to the water mains – a procedure that is commonly used for decontamination.
The incident comes almost four months after former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were attacked with a military-grade nerve agent in Salisbury.
The pair have since left hospital and are recovering in secret locations amid an ongoing diplomatic row between the UK and Russia, which has denied any involvement.
Police have not confirmed any link to the patients in Amesbury and they have not yet been identified.
Amesbury major incident after couple exposed to novichok
Show all 40It is believed that one of the last places the couple were seen in public was a family fun day at Amesbury Baptist Church, which has since been cordoned off, on Saturday afternoon.
Roy Collins, church secretary, said: ”Last weekend we held a community fundraiser and we understand this may well be the last event this couple went to in public.
“We are all quite puzzled and shocked – naturally the connection with Salisbury and recent events there mean there is a heightened public interest.
“We are praying for the couple, one of our members knows them and clearly there are concerns for them and any others in the community.
“They are not church members or regulars.”
Mr Collins said around 200 people attended the event, including many families and children, but “nobody else has suffered any ill effects”.
Wiltshire Police declared a "major incident" in Amesbury on Tuesday night - but what does that actually mean?
The major incident in Amesbury was discussed at a meeting of the government's emergency Cobra committee this morning.
A Downing Street spokesman said: "This is an incident which understandably is being treated with the utmost seriousness.
"Ministers and the Prime Minister are being kept updated and there was a meeting this morning of officials to receive updates on the facts of the situation."
A source told The Independent there are no obvious connections between this case and the Skripals.
The couple are British and have no known link to espionage. Could they have been affected by residues of the novichok-based agents used on the Skripals? It is thought that should have dissipated by now.
No further details have emerged yet from Salisbury District Hospital, where the couple are being treated.
Cara Charles-Barks, chief executive at Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, said in a statement: "Two people are undergoing treatment at Salisbury Hospital.
"We are working with the police to understand the circumstances surrounding this incident and it would be inappropriate to make further comment at this time, while we establish how they became unwell."
The latest update from Public Health England (PHE) repeats their advice that "it is not believed that there is a significant health risk to the wider public".
Public Health England said it is working closely with both national government and local services to respond to the incident.
Dr Mike Wade, Deputy Director of Health Protection in the South-West, said:
Our current advice, based on the number of casualties affected, is that it is not believed that there is a significant health risk to the wider public. We will keep this assessment under constant review as further information becomes known.
The Deputy Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police, Paul Mills, is due to give a statement about the incident in Amesbury at 4.30pm.
A police spokesman would not confirm the names of the couple in critical condition in hospital.
The couple have been named as Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgess by an Amesbury resident who claims to be their best friend.
Sam Hobson, 29, told reporters that he saw Ms Sturgess being taken out of Amesbury Baptist Church at 11am on Saturday.
Mr Rowley slumped into a "zombie-like state" several hours later at his home in Muggleton Road, he claimed.
"We were preparing clothes to take to Dawn in hospital," Mr Hobson told South West News Service. "He felt ill and went for a shower. Then his eyes went bloodshot and like two pin pricks, he began garbling incoherently and I could tell he was hallucinating.
"He was making weird noises and acting like a zombie. He slumped against the wall.
"Everybody is saying it's drugs related but Dawn doesn't take drugs. This doesn't make any sense - I can't see why they'd be targeted, it's completely random."
Sam Hobson speaks to TV crews outside Amesbury Baptist Church (Reuters/Henry Nicholls)
A further meeting of the government's Cobra emergencies committee will be held at official level on Wednesday evening to hear updates on the situation in Amesbury, Downing Street said.
Police are delivering a statement on the incident.
Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills says officers were first called to the flat in Muggleton Road on Saturday morning to reports a woman had collapsed, and then to the same place later in the day following reports a man had also fallen unwell.
He has not named the victims but confirmed they are British nationals and the woman is 44 and the man 45.
He says they are being treated for "suspected exposure to an unknown substance" and remain in a critical condition.
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