ATTACKED IN HIS CAR?
Nerve agent Novichok was ‘placed inside VENTILATION SYSTEM of Sergei Skripal’s car’ and left at least 38 people ill, US media reports
POISONED spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter may have been exposed to a deadly nerve agent through his BMW’s ventilation system, it was claimed yesterday.
Assassins hid powdered Novichok in vents so it contaminated the air, said reports in the US.
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The Russian defector, 66, and Yulia, 33, are feared to have circulated it around the car after switching the engine on.
They collapsed at the same time on a bench in Salisbury’s Maltings centre in what is believed to be a delayed reaction to the banned toxin.
revealed the pair may have fallen ill after the substance was used in a “dust-like powdered form”. Its sources also said 38 people in the city may have been exposed to the agent, but most are suffering minor symptoms.
, in our graphic. They remained critically ill.
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Police renewed their appeal for sightings of Skripal’s burgundy BMW 320D, reg HD09 WAO, on the morning of Sunday, March 4.
Its movements could now become crucial as detectives step up the hunt for a hit team possibly sent on the orders of Vladimir Putin.
It remained unclear how Wiltshire Police officer Nick Bailey also fell victim to the poison.
Det Sgt Bailey was among the first to respond to the incident and remained in a serious but stable condition.
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SPECK IS SO LETHAL
A FORMER chemical weapons inspector said assassins would need just a small amount of Novichok for it to be lethal.
The expert said they could have broken into Skripal’s BMW the night before and put the powder in vents, or on door handles.
The days before the attack were extremely cold and the suspects could have banked on Skripal cranking up the car’s heating.
He said: “If this theory is true it would have been put there in powder rather than liquid form. This type of nerve agent can work through the skin or by the victim inhaling.
“Most would have blown away but they needed just a tiny amount, around five microns (five millionths of a metre), to get into their system. A higher dose could have worked within minutes.”
As the investigation continues, residents were told they would continue to see a police presence at sites across Salisbury.
Military units in neighbouring Dorset have been helping cops move a number of vehicles and items.
Met Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said yesterday: “Public Health England has advised that the risk to the public is low.
“I would like to reassure anyone who may be concerned by the continued presence of officers wearing specialist protective clothing that this is as a precaution, and that it is not an indication of an increased risk.”
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Police revealed Skripal and Yulia had not been seen between 9.15am and 1.30pm on March 4.
Mr Basu said about 400 people had given statements, 762 possible pieces of evidence had been collected and about 4,000 hours of CCTV were being examined.
He added “We are learning more about Sergei and Yulia but need to be clearer on their movements that morning.”
The Sun on Sunday revealed that Yulia’s boyfriend was a Russian secret service agent and that she had worked in the US Embassy in Moscow.
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MOST READ IN NEWS
Special Branch is probing threats against another dissident, it emerged last night.
Valery Morozov claimed asylum here after blowing the whistle on Kremlin corruption. He got emails last week warning: “They came for Sergei, they will come for you.”
When he did not reply Morozov, 63, got a second mail, saying: “Do you not care what will happen to you? Waiting for your confirmation.”
The news comes two days after Scotland Yard announced a murder investigation into the death of Putin enemy Nikolai Glushkov, found strangled in his South London home.
'CALL POIROT' DIG
RUSSIAN officials in the UK ridiculed Britain over the Salisbury attack by tweeting a photo of the Agatha Christie detective Hercule Poirot.
They joked: “In absence of evidence, we definitely need Poirot in Salisbury!” Labour’s Yvette Cooper, who chairs the Home Affairs Committee, said: “They are effectively trolling us on this.
“They are not responding in a way that is serious and statesperson like.” Boris Johnson accused Russia of acting with “a mixture of smug sarcasm and denial”.
David Suchet played Poirot, right, in the popular long-running ITV series.
Russian ambassador to UK Alexander Shulgin says they don't have chemical weapons and has never heard of Novichok
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