More radiation sources found in Litvinenko case
Police are investigating the former spy's accusations that the Kremlin poisoned him before his death
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Tuesday, 28, Nov 2006 09:52
Police investigating the death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko have found two further central London addresses to have traces of the radioactive substance polonium-210 (Po-210).
Officers found traces of the substance at one address in Down Street, where exiled Russian billionaire and friend of Mr Litvinenko, Boris Berezovsky, is believed to hold an office. Mr Berezovsky is a critic of Russian president Vladimir Putin, whom Mr Litvinenko accused of poisoning him before he died.
Mr Putin has dismissed any link between the Kremlin and Mr Litvinenko's death.
A second address is the offices of security and risk management company Erinys, Grosvenor street, where Mr Litvinenko visited before he died in hospital last Thursday after apparently being poisoned on November 1st.
Traces of the radioactive substance have already been found at the home of Mr Litvinenko in Muswell Hill, north London, the Itsu sushi restaurant in Piccadilly, central London, and the Millennium Hotel in Grosvenor Square.
The development in the investigation comes after the home secretary John Reid fielded emergency questions in the Commons yesterday regarding the investigation and the public health risk.
Mr Reid attempted to reassure the public, stating that only a "small number of people" have needed further tests after concerns that they may have been in contact with radiation.
NHS Direct urges anyone who was in the Itsu restaurant, or who was in The Pine Bar or the restaurant of the Millennium Hotel on November 1st to contact them for advice.