OPCW Accepts UK Request to Confirm Identity of Nerve Agent in Amesbury Incident

"The UK has invited independent technical experts from the international chemical weapons watchdog to travel to the UK to collect further samples. The experts, from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), will return to the UK to continue their work to independently confirm the identity of the nerve agent, which resulted in the death of one British national in Amesbury, and left another seriously ill," UK authorities said in a statement.

The OPCW has accepted the invitation and its experts will collect more samples, which are to be analyzed at OPCW-designated international laboratories.

"In response to the [UK] request, the OPCW will deploy a technical assistance team for a follow-up visit and to collect additional samples. Samples will be sent to two OPCW designated laboratories. Once the results of the analysis are received, the report will be submitted to the United Kingdom," the organization's statement read.

On July 4, UK police reported a "serious incident" in Amesbury, where two people were exposed to an unknown substance and hospitalized in critical condition. Shortly after, UK police announced that the couple, Dawn Sturgess and Charlie Rowley, was believed to have handled an item allegedly contaminated with the same military-grade nerve agent that was allegedly used in the attack on the Skripals in Salisbury. On July 8, Sturgess died in hospital, while Rowley was soon discharged from the medical facility.

READ MORE: Police to Test Ambulances Used to Treat Alleged Amesbury Novichok Victims

On March 4, former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a bench at a shopping center in Salisbury. The United Kingdom and its allies have accused Moscow of having orchestrated the attack with what UK experts claim was the A234 nerve agent, without presenting any proof. Russian authorities have firmly rejected the allegations as groundless.