A BUS stop in Salisbury was today sealed off by cops after a man reportedly collapsed 300 yards from a key site in the novichok murder hunt. Officers in hazmat suits reportedly attended to the stricken 60-year-old man as a precaution - but he turned out to be suffering from an unconnected "medical episode." 6 Police and paramedics keep their distance from the bus stop today Credit: Spirefm ITV news correspondent Rupert Evelyn said on Twitter police had "isolated a bus and an individual near the Railway". He added: "Sense of a lockdown. All emergency services are currently keeping their distance from the bus and the man at the bus stop. "He is moving slowly. Looks like drinking water occasionally." Wiltshire Police said: "We are currently dealing with a medical incident involving a man in St Paul's Road/Fisherton Street, Salisbury. Our officers have dealt with a medical incident on St Pauls Rd, Salisbury. Cordons enabled them to deal with the situation which involved a man in his 60's. The man had a medical episode.The road will re-open shortly. This is not part of the ongoing major investigation. — Salisbury Police (@SouthWiltsCPT) July 9, 2018 6 A double-decker bus behind the police cordon in Fisherton Street, Salisbury Credit: Spirefm 6 Police and ambulance crews are at the scene near the city train station Credit: Spirefm 6 It is not clear if the incident is related to the novichok poisioning Credit: Spirefm "There are road closures in place so please avoid the area for now. We will reopen the road as soon as possible." It is not clear if the incident is related to the poisoning of two people from novichok nerve agent last week. Mum-of-three Dawn Sturgess, 44, died in hospital on Sunday after falling ill at her partner Charlie Rowley's home in nearby Amesbury. Charlie, 45, remains critically ill. The bus stop in Fisherton Street is around 300 yards from Queen Elizabeth Gardens, which was sealed off amid fears the couple were accidentally poisoned by an assassin's discarded stash. 6 Mum-of-three Dawn Sturgess died after being exposed to novichok in Salisbury Credit: Facebook 6 The bus stop is 300 yards from a park at the centre of the novichok murder hunt Police say it is likely the pair received a "high dose" by touching a container of the same batch of Russian nerve agent used in the attempted murders of MI6 mole Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in March. Policeman Nick Bailey who was first to help the Skripals also fell critically ill but survived. Scotland Yard's counter-terror officers are leading a murder investigation into Dawn's death. Sense of a lockdown. All emergency services are currently keeping their distance from the bus and the man at the bus stop. He is moving slowly. Looks like drinking water occasionally. @itvnews pic.twitter.com/pyFDUfIwHB — Rupert Evelyn (@rupertevelyn) July 9, 2018 Huge cordon remains around bus in Salisbury & man in the bus stop, unclear exactly what incident is. pic.twitter.com/FwmLRgQUWt — Katy Austin (@KatyAustinNews) July 9, 2018 Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said: "Our focus and priority at this time is to identify and locate any container that we believe may be the source of the contamination. "In the four months since the Skripals and Nick Bailey were poisoned, no other people besides Dawn and Charlie have presented with symptoms. "But their reaction was so severe it resulted in Dawn's death and Charlie being critically ill. "This means they must have got a high dose and our hypotheseis is that they must have handled a container that we are now seeking." Public Health England said the overall risk to the public is low, but advised against picking up "any strange items such as needles, syringes or unusual containers". MOST READ IN NEWS 'GOBSMACKED' Queen 'gave Harry OK for Oprah series after misleading pitch about soldiers' ROD LIDDLE Ousting right-on National Trust boss is a victory against wokery DRUMMER DEAD School Of Rock star dies at 32 after being hit by car as Jack Black mourns HOUSE ABOUT IT You won't believe what this ordinary London home looks like on the inside Exclusive TOM'S LEGACY Captain Tom Moore — who raised £39m for charity — left family £73k in will JABS HOPE Scientists 'crack cause of blood clots linked to Covid jabs & know how to fix it' Asked what it would take to link the original attack in Salisbury with the latest incident, Mr Basu said: "Well, clearly this is a very rare agent indeed. "So as I said, it does remain our main line of inquiry but we are police officers and we have to work on evidence, so I would need a forensic link to make that absolutely 100 per cent certain." Samples have been sent to the UK's chemical weapons lab at Porton Down. We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.<doc-sep>While it was not clear whether a crime had been committed, the force said, a number of places in Amesbury and Salisbury known to have been frequented by the couple had been cordoned off.<doc-sep>
British police have declared a "major incident" after two people were left unconscious by an unknown substance near the English city of Salisbury, where a former British spy and his daughter were poisoned by a suspected nerve agent in March. The proximity to the previous incident, if nothing else, has raised sufficient alarm to draw in counter terrorism officers from Britain's biggest police force. Police said Tuesday that they initially believed the couple's collapse was drug-related, but later declared the investigation "open-minded" regarding the cause of their ailment. The couple, both in their 40s, were found unconscious in Amesbury, Wiltshire, on Saturday. Police in Wiltshire said it was unclear if a crime had been committed. Several sites in Amesbury and Salisbury known to have been frequented by the couple were cordoned off on Tuesday, but by Wednesday the cordons had been removed, including the one around the home where they were found. Both victims were still in critical condition on Wednesday morning. Police were conducting tests to try and identify the substance, and according to BBC News, samples were sent to the British government's primary biological and chemical weapons facility, Porton Down, for testing. The BBC's sources said sending samples of an unknown toxin to the facility was standard in such cases. Wiltshire police warned that residents of Amesbury and Salisbury, which are eight miles apart, could expect an increased police presence, and on Wednesday London's Metropolitan Police said that, "given the recent events in Salisbury, officers from the counter terrorism network are working jointly with colleagues from Wiltshire Police regarding the incident." A Public Health England (PHE) spokesman said Tuesday that, "based upon the number of casualties affected, is that it is not believed that there is a significant health risk to the wider public. This will be continually assessed as further information becomes known." Both patients were being treated at Salisbury District Hospital, which remained "open as usual," police said. CBS News partner network BBC News cited the regional fire and rescue authority as saying a total of seven vehicles arrived at the home, an apartment in Amesbury, where the couple were found, including two specialist vehicles from the neighboring county of Hampshire. They were called to the house at about 7 p.m. on Saturday, and some of the team members entered the home wearing hazmat suits, but the officials stressed that such a response was standard procedure when dealing with a possible unknown toxin.