Counter-terrorism officers have joined the investigation opened by the local Wiltshire police after two people were taken to hospital in critical condition after being exposed to an unknown substance in the southwest English city of Amesbury, the Metropolitan Police said Wednesday in a statement.
"As you would expect, given the recent events in Salisbury, officers from the counter-terrorism network are working jointly with colleagues from the Wiltshire Police regarding the incident in Amesbury," police said.
Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Theresa May said that the emergency committee had held a meeting in response to the Wiltshire incident.
READ MORE: 2 Hospitalized After Exposure to 'Unknown Substance' in UK's Amesbury — Police
However, the police noted that it has not yet been established whether a crime was committed.
"It was initially believed that the two patients fell ill after using possibly heroin or crack cocaine from a contaminated batch of drugs. However, further testing is now ongoing to establish the substance which led to these patients becoming ill and we are keeping an open mind as to the circumstances surrounding this incident," the statement reads.
The Defense Science and Technology Laboratory in Porton Down told Sputnik that it was "supporting" the investigation into an incident though it could not confirm or deny receiving samples.
"There’s no indication that the incident is in any way connected to the Skripal case at this moment in time. I haven't seen anything in this incident yet but I would consider it to be an overreaction," a source in the police told Sputnik.
At the time, the UK authorities blamed Russia for attempting to assassinate Skripal, who worked for the British intelligence, with what is believed by London to be the A234 nerve agent. Although the UK failed to provide evidence to substantiate its accusations, London rushed to retaliate, expelling Russian diplomats.
Russia denied having any role in the alleged poisoning and has offered to assist in the investigation. However, its request for samples of the chemical substance used to poison the Skripals was rejected. Both Skripals have since been discharged from the hospital.
