Woman wearing a black face mask spotted in Salisbury an HOUR before nerve agent attack sparks police hunt
A MASKED woman was spotted acting suspiciously in Salisbury an hour before the Skripals were found collapsed and convulsing, police say.
The dark-haired suspect was reportedly seen wearing a black face mask as she left a Pret a Manger, a three-minute walk from where Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, slumped unconscious after being hit by a deadly nerve agent.
It comes as the PM Theresa May said it was "highly likely" Russian agents were responsible.
reports that Mark Francis, a car dealer, who reported seeing the mystery masked woman on Wednesday
Mr Francis, 50, said he initially thought nothing of the black mask because it was similar to those commonly seen after the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) in 2002 and sometimes worn by visitors from Asia.
But after news broke of the assassination attempt he called the police.
Mr Francis, 50, said: “We were in the town centre in Pret a Manger. We were in there at 3.35pm and I was sitting by the door and this lady walked out at 3.40pm.
“She was wearing a Sars mask, a black Sars mask tucked around her chin and a bag in her hand.
“It was really odd as you don’t often see someone wearing a Sars mask in Salisbury.
“We don’t get smog or pollution. When it became a chemical attack it sounded more likely that it could be significant.”
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
- A former KGB spook claims he was told his life was in danger along with poisoned spy Sergei Skripal - but he dismissed the warning as a "joke
- Cops are looking for a woman who walked around Salisbury in a black face mask just one hour before Skripal was attacked
- 500 people were told to wash their clothes, phones, and glasses after possibly coming into contact with the nerve agent
- Theresa May accused Russia of poisoning Skripal using deadly nerve agent novichok
- 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
- 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 revealed Sergei's MI6 contact had links to poisoned ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko: "Two roads are shut off, they are closed. Police and army are down there.
"There are wearing hamzat suits. I've heard they are removing a vehicle.
"Because of our proximity to Salisbury and we obviously all know what's been going on there, we have linked what's going on here with that.
"It's the gossip of the village. It's all anyone is talking about in the shop today."
the van belongs to a vehicle recovery firm that may have towed Sergei Skripal's BMW 3 Series after his collapse.
It came as police sealed off a Sainsbury's car park in Salisbury where witnesses said two helicopters were circling above.
In recent days the Army has removed a number of police cars and an ambulance over contamination fears.
Convoys of army loaders escorted by police motorbikes have been seen driving vehicles out of Salisbury towards the Porton Down bio-warfare lab.
Two police cars block the entrance to Sainsbury's car park in Salisbury todayCredit: PA:Press Association This afternoon Theresa May updated MPs on the investigation after a briefing by police and intelligence chiefs at a meeting of the National Security Council in Downing Street.
She said it was "highly likely" the Kremlin was responsible for the attack against Sergei Skripal using a nerve agent called novichok.
She also said Russia's ambassador had been summoned to the Foreign Office to explain whether the Salisbury attack was "a direct action by the Russian state" or the result of the Russian Government "losing control" of its stock of nerve agents.
Novichok - Russian for newcomer - was the name of a series of deadly chemicals developed by Soviet scientists in the 1970s and 80s. They are said to be at least five times more potent than VX.
Earlier Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, said the attack looked "awfully like it was state-sponsored attempted murder".
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he would be surprised if Mrs May "did not point the finger at the Kremlin".
Ahead of the Prime Minister's statement, Downing Street said: "If we get to a position when we are able to attribute this attack then we will do so."
PM Theresa May confirms that Russia is 'highly likely' to have carried out the attack on former spy Sergei Skripal Salisbury using military-grade nerve agent Ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, on a previous visit to Zizzi in Salisbury Sergei Skripal and his daughter were found collapsed on a bench in Salisbury on March 4Credit: AFP Army experts were yesterday seen removing a car linked to the nerve agent probeCredit: EPA A cemetery where Skripal's wife and son are buried has also been investigatedCredit: Reuters The Kremlin has denied any involvement of the Russian government in the nerve agent attack on the Skripals.
Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov told the Press Association: "We consider inappropriate any mention of the Russian government in the context of what happened to Sergei Skripal.
"We have nothing to do with the story."
Former MI6 double agent Skripal and his daughter remain critically ill in hospital eight days after they were found collapsed on a bench in the Wiltshire city.
Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey is in a serious but stable condition in the Salisbury District Hospital, where he is said to be conscious and talking.
A Zizzi restaurant where Skripal and his daughter had lunch has been sealed offCredit: AP:Associated Press Diners and pub-goers who were at The Mill that day have been warned to wash their clothesCredit: Reuters Yesterday, hundreds of diners and pub-goers were urged to wash clothes and phones a week after potentially coming into contact with the nerve agent.
The "precautionary advice" was issued after traces of the substance were found in The Mill pub and the nearby Zizzi restaurant.
The Tory leader of Salisbury City Council, Matthew Dean, insisted the warning was issued quickly enough after criticism from city residents.
He told the BBC: "Consistently the advice has been that this is a very, very precautionary approach and that they are advising that people wash their clothes because they don't want people to come into prolonged contact."
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