A police officer told Sputnik that he and his colleague had been deployed to the hotel at around 11:00 a.m. (10:00 GMT) on Wednesday because the place was attracting a lot of media and public attention.
May Claims 2 Suspects in Skripal Poisoning Are Officers of Russian Intelligence
The situation at the site was calm and the hotel continued to operate as normal, the officer added.
The area where the hotel is located is one of London’s poorer, more unstable neighborhoods, where migrants, predominately from Africa, the Middle East and Asia, live.
UK police said earlier in the day that in May, some samples taken in the hotel room where the suspects stayed before the attack showed contamination at levels below that which would cause concerns for public health.
A hotel spokesman said earlier on Wednesday, citing the police and Public Health England, that the hotel’s quests and staff faced no health risk.
The UK Foreign Office has accused Moscow of orchestrating the poisoning of the Skripals with the use of the A234 military-grade nerve agent. The country’s Porton Down lab has said, however, that it could not prove that the nerve agent used in the attack was made in Russia or determine its country of origin.
Moscow has denied any involvement in the incident, saying London has not provided sufficient evidence to substantiate its claims.