Dawn Sturgess, a UK woman who was exposed to the Novichok nerve agent, has died.
Sturgess, who was 44, fell mysteriously ill on June 30 and was hospitalised.
Police had originally thought that hard drugs might have been responsible for Sturgess’ state, though it later became clear that she was affected by a nerve agent.
Sturgess’ partner Charlie Rowley, 45, remains critically ill in hospital. It remains unclear exactly how the pair came into contact with the nerve agent, though tests have confirmed they touched a contaminated item with their hands.
The incident comes just months after Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were affected by the nerve agent in Salisbury, though both survived. Salisbury is in the county of Wiltshire, where Rowley and Sturgess both also lived.
Skripal was a former Russian spy who became a double-agent for the UK intelligence services.
The BBC has reported that the risk of Novichok contact to the general public remains low. Professor Paul Cosford of Public Health England has said, however, that “As a precaution we still advise the public not to pick up any strange items such as needles, syringes or unusual containers.”
The police have now opened a murder investigation into Sturgess’ death. The investigation is being led by detectives from the Counter-Terrorism Policing Network and about 100 detectives are working on the case alongside Wiltshire Police.
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