Salisbury could be ‘sealed for weeks’ as cops continue hunt for poison site
SALISBURY is facing weeks on lockdown after the latest Novichok poisonings.
The city is being scoured for traces of the nerve agent which has left Dawn Sturgess and boyfriend Charlie Rowley fighting for their lives.
Police are desperate to find a canister or syringe dumped by a two-man hit squad who poisoned Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and daughter Yulia in March.
Dawn, 44, and Charlie, 45, may have picked it up while scavenging in the city.
But a source warned: “It could be weeks before the source of the contamination is found.
“It also means that areas are likely to remain sealed off for a long time before being re-opened to the public.”
Mum-of-three Dawn, an alcohol abuser, and drug addict Charlie are both said to be in comas in hospital after they fell ill on Saturday.
Police are trying to piece together their movements.
They are carrying out an inch-by-inch search of Queen Elizabeth Gardens, the Salisbury park the couple visited the day before they collapsed.
Soil samples are being tested for Novichok to try to narrow the search.
They have also sealed off Dawn’s flat in Salisbury as well as Charlie’s home ten miles away in Amesbury.
But the pair were known to scour bins for things to sell, suggesting they could have been poisoned while searching through rubbish.
Met Police counter-terrorism command, who are leading the probe, said: “Police activity is expected to take weeks and months.
“The focus of the investigation remains identifying the source of the contamination as quickly as possible.”
Those who came into contact with Dawn and Charlie are also fearful that they may have been contaminated.
They include two churchgoers who prayed with Charlie after Dawn was taken ill.
Hairdresser Angela Siggs, 43, said: “It is worrying, knowing that there is still Novichok around here, close to where we live and work.”
And Salisbury businesses are worried tourists will stay away.
Market trader Jim Diment, 54, said: “We have only just come back since this has reopened. Now it’s back to square one.”
'More sick than the Skripals'
THE couple’s lives are in the balance after arriving in hospital in a worse state than the Skripals, a pal said yesterday.
Dawn and Charlie’s friend Sam Hobson spoke to medics at Salisbury District Hospital.
He said: “The leading doctor told me they are very poorly.
“The only people allowed near them are staff. They are on an isolation ward with police and security on guard around the clock.
“The doctor said that although they are not yet getting any better, they’re not getting worse either.
“They’re being kept alive by their ventilators.”
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