'Nothing to suggest' novichok involved as 'Russian' falls ill in Salisbury

'Nothing to suggest' novichok involved as 'Russian' falls ill in Salisbury

There is "nothing to suggest" novichok is the substance that has led to two people falling ill at a restaurant in Salisbury, police have said.

A major incident was declared and the Prezzo restaurant was sealed off after a man in his 40s and a woman in her 30s became unwell on Sunday evening.

One of the pair is a Russian national, according to Sky sources.

Wiltshire Police said the pair have been assessed at Salisbury District Hospital following concerns they had been "exposed to an unknown substance".

"We can now confirm that there is nothing to suggest that novichok is the substance," a police spokeswoman said.

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"The major incident status has now been stood down. At this stage it is not yet clear if a crime has been committed and enquiries remain ongoing."

The restaurant, on the High Street in Salisbury, is a short walk from Queen Elizabeth Gardens, which was closed off after Dawn Sturgess was fatally poisoned by novichok at the end of June.

Image: Police say the incident is not believed to be linked to novichok

The same nerve agent was used to target former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, who were found unresponsive on a bench in Salisbury after eating at a Zizzi restaurant about 0.2 miles from Prezzo.

Shortly after police were called to Prezzo on Sunday evening, witnesses reported seeing police "covering someone up" with a blanket, the Salisbury Journal reported.

A witness at a nearby Cafe Rouge restaurant said they saw police bagging something up in the street.

Image: A man and woman were taken to Salisbury District Hospital

Others said they had been locked in a nearby pub as a hazardous area response team and four ambulances were sent to Prezzo.

Witness Sam Proudfoot, 16, said he saw a man "in a full white body suit with a mask to his mouth going in and out of the back of the ambulance and the restaurant".

He told Sky News that everyone inside the restaurant had their details taken, and were told to stay within the cordoned area.

Image: Police were called at 6.45pm. Pic: @samproudy01

Half a dozen police cars, an ambulance, two incident response units and two fire engines were at the scene, he added.

Wiltshire Police said it received a call from the ambulance service at about 6.45pm following reports that a man and a woman had fallen ill.

"Both were taken to Salisbury District Hospital and were clinically assessed," a force spokeswoman said.

"We can now confirm that there is nothing to suggest that novichok is the substance. Both people remain in hospital under observation."

A cordon remains in place at the Prezzo restaurant, the spokeswoman added.</s>A major incident was stood down in Salisbury on Sunday night after police said two people who fell ill in a restaurant had not been exposed to novichok.

A cordon had been set up around the Prezzo Italian restaurant, close to where the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal collapsed after being poisoned with the nerve agent.

Fears had been high in the city after the poisonings, but police confirmed there was nothing to suggest novichok had caused the man in his 40s and woman in her 30s to fall ill.

Wiltshire Police said that, due to recent events in the city and concerns the pair had been exposed to an unknown substance, a “highly precautionary approach” had been taken by emergency services.

Police said: “Both were taken to Salisbury district hospital and were clinically assessed. We can now confirm that there is nothing to suggest that Novichok is the substance. Both people remain in hospital under observation.”

Streets were closed off and people were told to stay inside as experts in hazmat suits worked in and around the restaurant.

Investigators were trying to establish if the pair had been victims of a crime and the restaurant remained cordoned off on Monday morning.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A member of the emergency services at the Prezzo restaurant. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

A source briefed by the emergency services told the Press Association that medics alerted the police because the symptoms were consistent with novichok poisoning, but stressed the symptoms could have other causes.

Tensions have been high in Salisbury since two Wiltshire people, Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgess, were poisoned in June apparently after finding a bottle containing novichok discarded following the Skripal attack. Sturgess later died.

Police have consistently said they cannot be certain there is no more novichok in Salisbury.

This month British police named two men they allege carried out the attempted murder on Skripal and claimed they were officers from Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU. The men, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, came forward to say they were tourists in the city to visit Salisbury Cathedral.

Two people claiming to be witnesses said the two who fell ill in the Prezzo Italian were Russians. This was not confirmed by the authorities.

The restaurant is between the bench where the Skripals collapsed in March and the cathedral. It is also close to a park that was sealed off after it emerged that Rowley and Sturgess had been there the day before they were poisoned.

The Skripals visited a different Italian restaurant, Zizzi, in Salisbury before they were taken critically ill, although the police are convinced they were poisoned at Sergei Skripal’s house.

South Western ambulance service said medics were called at 5.38pm. Four ambulances were sent, including a hazardous area response team, a spokeswoman said. Initially the service said the patients were conscious and being treated at the scene. The ambulance service alerted the police at 6.45pm.

A witness, Sam Proudfoot, 16, tweeted a video of emergency services gathered at the scene:

Sam Proudfoot (@samproudy01) Trouble in Salisbury again on New Street near the cathedral, no sign of what’s happened but there’s 1 fire engine, 1 ambulance and 4 police cars, a man in a full white body suit with a mouth-mask and police not allowed to tell us what’s happening @BBCNews @SpireFM @SkyNews pic.twitter.com/3XpNVkH9or

On Facebook a woman called Amanda Newton said she had been at the restaurant and claimed she had been sitting next to the pair who had fallen ill. She wrote: “We are being taken to a safe place and may need blood tests at Salisbury hospital ... will keep everyone updated ... I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

The BBC said it had been told by someone in Prezzo that the scene was “like armageddon”. The diner, who did not want to be named, said one of those taken ill was a blonde woman in her late 20s.

The woman appeared to be at the table on her own and “kept going away, getting up and coming back again”, it was claimed. The witness added: “When she came back she was hysterical. She called paramedics and the next thing an ambulance turns up and they come rushing in.

“It materialised he [the man who has been taken ill] was up in the toilet. He’d had a fit and they came back in all gowned up with all the white and the masks on.”

The witness told the BBC she had called the police. “Suddenly we had sirens and it was like armageddon.”

Both the unnamed BBC witness and Newton suggested the pair were Russians but the police have not commented on this.

Matthew Dean (@MattDeanStPauls) Understandably people concerned at latest possible incident in #Salisbury but there have been a number of false alarms since the #Skripal poisoning. Rightly the emergency services start with a highly precautionary approach until they know otherwise.

Gill Cleary, who lives close to Salisbury, came into the city to find out what was going on. She said: “I saw one person in a hazmat suit coming out of the restaurant about 20 minutes ago. I think they’re just bring cautious but I can’t help being apprehensive because we don’t know what else is out there.”

The leader of Salisbury city council, Matthew Dean, previously urged the public not to leap to conclusions, pointing out there have been a number of false alarms since Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were poisoned.</s>Image copyright Sam Proudfoot

Police have sealed off a restaurant in Salisbury and the surrounding area as a "precautionary measure" after two people were taken ill.

The ambulance service called officers to Prezzo in High Street at 18:45 BST following "a medical incident" involving a man and a woman.

Wiltshire Police said it was trying to establish what led them to fall ill.

The ambulance service said the patients were conscious and being treated at the scene.

South Western Ambulance Service said it was first called at 17:38 BST.

A witness who was in Prezzo during the incident told the BBC that one of those taken ill was a woman in her late twenties - she appeared to be at a table on her own and "kept going away, getting up and coming back again".

The witness added that when that woman came back in, "she was hysterical. She called paramedics and the next thing an ambulance turns up and they come rushing in and then they rush out again."

BBC south of England correspondent Duncan Kennedy said that Public Health England is aware of the incident but "there's no suggestion that this is connected to the Novichok incident back in March".

BBC reporter Emma Volney, who is outside the police cordon, said there were five ambulances, a dozen police officers, and members of the fire service in attendance.

She said that "the high street, usually a vibrant part of the city, is closed off to the public and about a dozen officers are policing the scene."

Witness Sam Proudfoot, 16, said: "There's a man in a full white body suit with a mask to his mouth going in and out of the back of the ambulance and the restaurant."</s>London: Two people fell ill on Sunday when eating in a restaurant in Salisbury, the English city where former Russian agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned in March, police said.

Police were called to the Prezzo restaurant in the evening in response to a "medical incident" involving a man and a woman, Wiltshire Police said in a statement.

"As a precautionary measure, the restaurant and surrounding roads have been cordoned off while officers attend the scene and establish the circumstances surrounding what led them to become ill," it said.

Britain has said Russian officers used the nerve agent Novichok to attack the Skripals. The Kremlin has denied any involvement.

Police have said a nerve toxin had been left on the front door of the Skripals’ home. They were found slumped in Salisbury city centre after visting the Bishop’s Mill pub and Zizzi, another Italian restaurant.</s>Police have closed streets in Salisbury as a "precautionary measure" after two people were taken ill from a restaurant, amid heightened tensions after the Novichok poisonings.

Wiltshire Police said they were called by the ambulance service at about 6.45pm on Sunday after a "medical incident" involving a man and a woman at Prezzo restaurant.

South Western Ambulance Service said it was called to the scene more than an hour earlier and dispatched four ambulances including a hazardous area response team.

Roads were cordoned off around the Italian restaurant on the corner of High Street and Crane Street as police tried to determine what caused them to fall ill. Firefighters were also at the scene.

Witness Sam Proudfoot, 16, said he saw a person in a hazardous material suit go between the restaurant and the ambulance.

"I've been told two people were taken ill in there," the student said.

"There's a man in a full white body suit with a mask to his mouth going in and out of the back of the ambulance and the restaurant."

A witness in the nearby Cafe Rouge restaurant said they could see police bagging something up in the street outside.

Wiltshire Police said: "Police were called by the ambulance service to Prezzo, High Street, Salisbury at 6.45pm today following a medical incident involving two people.

"As a precautionary measure, the restaurant and surrounding roads have been cordoned off while officers attend the scene and establish the circumstances surrounding what has led them to fall ill."

A spokeswoman for the ambulance service said the patients were conscious at the last update and were being treated at the scene.

Tensions are heightened in the cathedral city because of recent Novichok poisonings.

The Italian restaurant is a short walk from Queen Elizabeth Gardens, which was until recently closed off after 44-year-old Dawn Sturgess was fatally poisoned by the nerve agent.

Police said she was killed by the same chemical used in an alleged hit by Russian military intelligence officers on former spy Sergei Skripal.</s>Police in the United Kingdom have ruled out the possibility that two people who fell ill after eating at a restaurant in Salisbury had been exposed to the nerve agent Novichok.

Wiltshire police declared a "major incident" on Sunday evening after it came to light that a man and woman had become unwell at a Prezzo restaurant, six months after a former Russian spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter Julia became the victims of Novichok poisoning in the same city.

"Due to recent events in the city and concerns that the pair had been exposed to an unknown substance, a highly precautionary approach was taken by all emergency services," police said in a statement.

"We can now confirm that there is nothing to suggest that Novichok is the substance," added the statement.

The pair were taken to Salisbury District Hospital, police said.

Police said it was "not yet clear" if a crime had been committed and that inquiries remained ongoing.

Skripal and his daughter were poisoned in March with Novichok, a nerve agent fabricated in Russia, and have since recovered after spending weeks hospitalized.

Weeks later in the nearby town of Amesbury, a British woman called Dawn Sturgess died having become ill after handling a bottle of perfume that contained Novichok.

Her partner, Charlie Rowley, also became ill but managed to make a recovery.

The UK has said Russia is behind the Novichok attack on the Skripals and accused two Russian citizens identified as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov of poisoning the ex-spy and his daughter.</s>Emergency services have been called to a restaurant in Salisbury after a man and woman were taken ill this evening.

Wiltshire Police said the area surrounding Prezzo restaurant has been closed while they work to establish what caused the "medical incident" involving a man and a woman on Sunday.

It is the same area where Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with nerve agent Novichok in March.

According to the Mirror , witnesses reportedly described police "covering someone up with a blanket".



 People inside the Old Ale House pub have been told they can't leave, it was also reported.

Writing on Facebook Amanda Newton said: "How on earth did we get caught up in this!!

"A nice meal in Prezzo turns into a major incident as 2 Russians sitting next to us take seriously ill and the whole area is closed.... we are being taken to a safe place and may need blood tests at Salisbury hospital.....

"Will keep everyone updated ..... I'm sure we will be fine!!"

The ambulance service alerted detectives at about 6.45pm.

Firefighters were also in attendance.

Witness Sam Proudfoot, 16, said he saw a person in a hazardous material suit go between the restaurant and the ambulance.

"I've been told two people were taken ill in there," he said.

"There's a man in a full white body suit with a mask to his mouth going in and out of the back of the ambulance and the restaurant."

Wiltshire Police said: "Police were called by the ambulance service to Prezzo, High Street, Salisbury at 6.45pm today following a medical incident involving two people.

"As a precautionary measure, the restaurant and surrounding roads have been cordoned off while officers attend the scene and establish the circumstances surrounding what has led them to fall ill."

South Western Ambulance Service said it dispatched four ambulances including a hazardous area response team after being called at 5.38pm.

The patients were conscious at the last update and were being treated at the scene, a spokeswoman added.

Tensions are heightened in the cathedral city because of recent Novichok poisonings.

The Italian restaurant is a short walk from Queen Elizabeth Gardens which was until recently closed off after 44-year-old Dawn Sturgess was fatally poisoned by the nerve agent.

Police said she was killed by the same chemical used in an alleged hit by Russian military intelligence officers on former spy Sergei Skripal.</s>Fresh Novichok poisoning fears gripped the city of Salisbury last night after two diners fell ill at an Italian restaurant.

Police in hazmat suits descended on Prezzo on the High Street after the man and woman, believed to be Russians, were taken ill on Sunday evening.

Wiltshire Police said they were called by the ambulance service at about 6.45pm on Sunday after a "medical incident" involving a man and a woman at Prezzo restaurant, while police and medics were seen in protective clothing.

South Western Ambulance Service said it was called to the scene more than an hour earlier and dispatched four ambulances including a hazardous area response team.

A source briefed by the emergency services told the Press Association that medics alerted the police because the symptoms were consistent with Novichok poisoning.

"The ambulance crew at the site took the decision that the symptoms seemed consistent with Novichok poisoning which is why they called their colleagues in the police," the source said.

But the source stressed: "The symptoms of Novhichok poisoning and particular types of narcotic abuse are very similar."

The site is just 300m from the Zizzi outlet where former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia ate before collapsing from Novichok poisoning in March.

Prezzo and the surrounding area has been sealed off while a number of pubs are on lockdown.

One diner claimed that the pair who had been taken ill were Russian though their identities have not been confirmed at this stage.

She said that she had been told she might need a blood test. Another witness described police 'covering someone up with a blanket'.

A diner also in Prezzo at the time of the incident described the scene as "like Armageddon".

The diner, who did not want to be named, told the BBC one of those taken ill was a blonde woman in her late twenties.

She claimed the woman appeared to be at a table on her own and kept going back and forth from where she was sat.

The witness told the BBC: "When she came back she was hysterical. She called paramedics and the next thing an ambulance turns up and they come rushing in."

According to this witness, the man who had taken ill was in the bathroom after having a fit.

"Suddenly we had sirens and it was like Armageddon," the diner added.

Another diner in the restaurant at the time says a woman was taken ill at around 6.05pm. He said she was "looking a bit worse for wear."

A worker at nearby restaurant Thai Sarocha said: "We have been told to stay inside. Luckily there were no customers here at the time, but I am here with three members of staff.

"Nobody has told us when we can get out. I spoke to a paramedic who can't tell me what's going on, but I can guess.

"I am a bit scared, but I'm sure it will all be okay. I just want to go home."

Wiltshire Police said in a statement: "Police were called by the ambulance service to Prezzo, High Street, Salisbury, at 6.45pm today (16 September) following a medical incident involving two people - a man and a woman.

"As a precautionary measure, the restaurant and surrounding roads have been cordoned off while officers attend the scene and establish the circumstances surrounding what has led them to fall ill."

Four police cars, an ambulance and a fire engine are at the scene.

@AmandaWorne, who says she was sitting next to the pair who fell ill in Prezzo, tweeted "now under police supervision waiting for medical team to give us the all clear."

Amanda Newton wrote on Facebook : "How on earth did we get caught up in this!! A nice meal in Prezzo turns into a major incident as 2 Russians sitting next to us take seriously ill and the whole area is closed.... we are being taken to a safe place and may need blood tests at Salisbury hospital..... Will keep everyone updated ..... I'm sure we will be fine!! (sic)."

A worker from nearby restaurant Cosy Club said: "They've cordoned off the whole of New Street.

"There's currently six unmarked police cars, two fire engines, two ambulances and three marked police cars.

"People aren't exactly panicked. There's not a lot you can do."

A worker at nearby pub The New Inn added: "Police have been very vague about the whole thing. We don't know what's going on.

"As soon as the emergency services turned up people started evacuating. We've only got a few customers left."

Paul Downton, who works at The New Inn, told Mirror Online: "Nobody has been told anything - people are a bit worried and everyone has their suspicions.

"The emergency services are outside, and they said they are treating it as if it's what happened before."

Sam Proudfoot posted on Twitter : "Trouble in Salisbury again on New Street near the cathedral, no sign of what's happened but there's 1 fire engine, 1 ambulance and 4 police cars, a man in a full white body suit with a mouth-mask and police not allowed to tell us what's happening."

A woman who works at The Wig and Quill, in New Street, says the pub is not on lockdown but they are in a semi-cordoned off area.

"They won't tell us anything," she added.

South Western Ambulance Service said medics were first called at 5.38pm.

Four ambulances were sent including a hazardous area response team, a spokeswoman said.

The patients were conscious at the last update and were being treated at the scene, she added.

Public Health England said they had been made aware of the incident.

A shocked member of the public said the front entrance to Salisbury District Hospital was surrounded by fire engines.

David Taylor - who was bringing a patient in for treatment - said the accident and emergency department was moved to another floor.

He said on arrival they were met by security staff who guided them to the new A&E department.

"It was obviously a major incident. All the staff were under pressure but were brilliant," he said.

The Skripals had visited a branch of Zizzi in Salisbury on the night they were found slumped on a park bench. The branch is about 300m away from the Prezzo restaurant which has been cordoned off today.

Wiltshire Police said anyone with information on the incident in Prezzo this evening should call 101 and quote log number 271 of 16 September.

Tonight's incident comes after two Russians accused of using Novichok in an effort to kill Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury gave an interview on Russian state-funded RT news channel this week.

Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov claimed they were visiting Salisbury cathedral on the day the Skripals were poisoned but had gone nearly two miles in the wrong direction.

Hours after their 30-minute whistlestop tour, they were on a plane back to Moscow, but denied the purpose of their trip was to assassinate Skripal.

In the interview, they denied working for the Russian intelligence service and claimed to be victims of a "fantastical coincidence".

They said they left the Wiltshire city because of heavy snow after half an hour.

But they have not explained why they were pictured walking together in Wilton Road, round the corner from Sergei Skripal's house, in the opposite direction to the cathedral.</s>Emergency services, including officers wearing full-body hazmat suits, have sealed off a branch of Prezzo on High Street in Salisbury city centre, Wilts. Paramedics were called to the restaurant at around 5:38pm on Sunday to reports of a "medical emergency" involving a man and a women who fell ill. The pair, who have not been identified, are conscious and being treated at the scene by medics, a spokeswoman for South Western Ambulance Service said. An eyewitness has claimed other diners at the restaurant have been taken to hospital, where doctors have told them they may need blood tests. The restaurant is close to where former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia where found slumped on a bench after being exposed to deadly Novichok nerve agent. The Skripals are not thought to have visited the Prezzo, but did eat at a nearby branch of Zizzi before they both became critically ill on March 4. A large-scale clean-up operation costing millions of pounds was carried out across Salisbury in the wake of the attack to eradicate any trace of the deadly nerve agent.

Wiltshire Police said the restaurant and surrounding roads have been cordoned off "as a precautionary measure" while police identify the cause of the “medical incident”. Eyewitnesses claim police were “covering someone with a blanket” at the scene where a fire engine, ambulance and four police cars have swooped. One witness claims the pair who fell ill are “Russians” who were showing the “same symptoms” as the Skripals, who fell unconscious and were frothing from the mouth. The police are yet to reveal the identities and nationalities of the people who fell ill. Amanda Worne said on Twitter: "Feeling a little apprehensive as Salisbury leaps to action again when 2 Russians are taken ill in Prezzos showing the same symptoms as before ..... AND WE WERE SITTING NEXT TO THEM!" In a separate post on Facebook, she added: "How on earth did we get caught up in this? A nice meal in Prezzo turns into a major incident as two Russians sitting next to us take seriously ill and the whole area is closed. "We are being taken to a safe place and may need blood tests at Salisbury hospital."

Witness Sam Proudfoot, 16, said he saw a person in a hazardous material suit go between the restaurant and the ambulance. "I've been told two people were taken ill in there," he said. "There's a man in a full white body suit with a mask to his mouth going in and out of the back of the ambulance and the restaurant." Four ambulances were sent including a hazardous area response team, a spokeswoman for the service said. The road closures are affecting New Street, Crane Street and the entrance to the Cathedral Close.

A spokesperson for Wiltshire Police said: “Police were called by the ambulance service to Prezzo, High Street, Salisbury, at 6.45pm today (16 September) following a medical incident involving two people – a man and a woman. “As a precautionary measure, the restaurant and surrounding roads have been cordoned off while officers attend the scene and establish the circumstances surrounding what has led them to fall ill. “Anyone with information should call 101 and quote log number 271 of 16 September.”

Britain has said Russian officers used the nerve agent Novichok to attack the Skripals, but yhe Kremlin has denied any involvement. The former Russian spy and his daughter survived the murder attempt, but an unconnected woman, Dawn Sturgess, died in July and her partner Charlie Rowley fell ill after Rowley found a perfume bottle containing the same nerve agent. Earlier this month British prosecutors identified two Russians they said were operating under aliases - Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov - whom they accused of trying to murder the Skripals with a military-grade nerve agent. Britain charged the two men in absentia with attempted murder, and said the suspects were military intelligence officers almost certainly acting on orders from high up in the Russian state. Two Russians resembling the men said on television on Thursday that they were innocent tourists who had flown to London for fun and visited the city of to see its cathedral.</s>London: Two people have fallen ill after eating in a restaurant in Salisbury, the English town where former Russian agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned in March, police said.

"Police were called by the ambulance service to Prezzo, High Street, Salisbury at 6.45 pm today following a medical incident involving two people - a man and a woman," Wiltshire Police said in a statement on Sunday.

"As a precautionary measure, the restaurant and surrounding roads have been cordoned off while officers attend the scene and establish the circumstances surrounding what led them to become ill."
A man and a woman are taken ill after a medical incident in Salisbury, United Kingdom. Police seal off a restaurant as a precautionary measure. According to The Guardian, tensions are high due to recent Novichok poisonings. According to the BBC, "there's no suggestion that this is connected". According to Sky News, at least one of the individuals who fell ill is a Russian.