Russian spy’s HOME is sealed off amid fears he was exposed to nerve agent before heading into city centre as number treated more than doubles to 21
THE poisoned Russian spy's home has been sealed off in Salisbury as the number of people treated for nerve agent exposure more than doubled.
Police had originally said "less than ten" people had had treatment after being exposed to the poison but confirmed the number had risen to 21 yesterday.
Kier Pritchard, temporary Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police, said a number of people were taken to hospital after exposure to the nerve agent which has left Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia fighting for their lives.
He told Sky News: “We’ve had multiple officers involved. There’s been around 21 people including the main two index patients – the man and the woman that were located a bench.
“A number of those have been through the hospital treatment process. They’re having blood tests, they’ve having treatment in terms of support and advice provided.”
This is the first confirmation of victims other than the Skripals and Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, a Wiltshire Police officer who was among the first to give help to the spy.
The cordon around the former double agent’s detached home in Salisbury was also extended as pressure mounted on the counter-terrorism officers leading the investigation to identify who was behind the plot.
What we know so far:
- Ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were found unconscious on a bench in Salisbury on Sunday
- Police say they were deliberately targeted with a rare nerve agent
- Cops cordoned off his house and the grave of his wife and son fearing others could be exposed to the poison
- The first Wiltshire cop on the scene is also ill in hospital - but hopes were raised for his recovery now he is awake and talking
- A blonde woman with a red handbag is being hunted after being caught on CCTV minutes before the hit
- Cops say the poison may have been slipped into a gift Yulia brought from Moscow
- Spooks also believe the Russians may have had their drinks spiked in a pub or a Zizzi's restaurant
- Theresa May has vowed revenge on Putin over the 'hit'
- Russian state TV warned 'traitor' double-agents they are not safe in the UK
- It was claimed Yulia Skripal may have been poisoned after calling for Putin to be jailed on Facebook as doctors reveal her fight for life
- It was revealed Sergei's MI6 contact had links to poisoned ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko
pictures from the Russian spy poisoning scene in Salisbury appear to show his daughter's red handbag lying abandoned on the floor.
Photos show a police officer crouched down next to the shopping centre bench where Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were found slumped unconscious.
The pair are fighting for life while a police officer - who was the first cop on site - remains seriously ill.
Counter terror cops are investigating the possibility that Kremlin-linked assassins slipped deadly sarin nerve gas into Sergei's present as daughter Yulia prepared to fly over from Moscow days earlier.
Another theory being probed is that the gas was sprayed into their faces or slipped into their drinks in a Salisbury restaurant.
Yesterday Amber Rudd confirmed that the brave cop's condition has improved, and he was "engaged and talking".
“I think it could be more positive [for Yulia]. They are hopeful that she might be able to pull through.
The police officer’s condition is thought to be less severe than the other two patients.
The Russian pair were "targeted specifically" when they were dosed by a deadly nerve agent, Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley confirmed this afternoon.
All the sites involved in the investigation are now secured - but a police presence may stay in Salisbury for at least a couple of days, Mr Rowley added.
Last night security sources told The Sun that the poison could only have been produced in a handful of labs worldwide - including the Russian government's notorious Yasenevo complex.
Tory MP and ex-Army officer Bob Seely said: “In my mind now, there is now no doubt this was a hit ordered by Putin, and by using something complex they’re effectively showing off.
“We’re now in public execution territory. The Russians are basically saying, they don’t care who knows it was them. It is a very alarming development.”
The signs a person has been exposed to nerve gas
Although it is not yet known exactly what substance was used, the most well-known are potent VX or sarin - a highly toxic nerve agent that can kill even in the smallest of doses.
Those who have been exposed may experience:
- runny nose
- watery eyes
- small pupils
- eye pain
- blurred vision
- drooling and excessive sweating
- a cough
- tightness in the chest
- rapid breathing
- diarrhoea
- nausea and vomiting
- weeing more often
- confusion
- drowsiness
- weakness
- headache
- slow or fast heart rate
- low or high blood pressure
- loss of consciousness
- convulsions
- paralysis
- respiratory failure leading to death
Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, ex-commander of the Army’s chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear regiment, said: “All the circumstances point in the direction of sarin. It’s very toxic and the symptoms displayed tally with its effects.”
It comes as a fellow Russian exile Valery Morozov claimed that Skripal was not in fact retired - and regularly met with Kremlin officials at the Russian Embassy.
He told Channel 4 News: “If you have a military intelligence officer living after retirement in the UK every month going to the embassy to meet military intelligence officers.
"For me being political refugee, I thought that this contact might not be very good for me because it can bring some questions from British officials."
Last night it was claimed that Skripal was close to a security consultant who worked for the company that compiled the explosive "dirty dossier" on Donald Trump.
According to the Daily Telegraph, the unnamed consultant lived near Skripal and knew him for some time.