Amesbury: Two collapse near Russian spy poisoning site

A man and woman feared to have been exposed to an unknown substance are in a critical condition, prompting police to declare a major incident.

The pair, in their 40s, were found unconscious in what was thought to be in a drugs-related incident in Amesbury, Wiltshire, on Saturday.

Further tests on the substance are being carried out to identify it.

Amesbury is about 10 miles from Salisbury, where a former Russian spy and his daughter were poisoned.

Sergei Skripal and daughter Yulia were poisoned with Novichok, a suspected military nerve agent, in March.

Police have said they are "open-minded" as to the cause about the incident in Amesbury.

While it was not clear whether a crime had been committed, the force said, a number of scenes in Amesbury and Salisbury known to have been frequented by the couple had been cordoned off.

Russian spy: What happened to the Skripals?

"It was initially believed that the two patients fell ill after using possibly heroin or crack cocaine from a contaminated batch of drugs," the force said.

"They are both currently receiving treatment for suspected exposure to an unknown substance at Salisbury District Hospital," it added.

'Containing any risk'

Wiltshire's Police and Crime Commissioner Angus Macpherson said the police had worked hard at "containing any risk that might be there".

"There's no reason to think it's connected with matters of last month," he said.

"I haven't seen anything in this incident yet that I would consider to be an overreaction in terms of previous incidents, it all seems fairly textbook."

Public Health England said it did not believe there was a "significant health risk" to the wider public, although its advice was being continually assessed.

Officials said the hospital was "open as usual" and advised patients to attend routine appointments unless contacted and advised to do otherwise.

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