Another pair poisoned by Novichok nerve agent in same area as ex-Russian spy

Two apparently random individuals have been poisoned by the same Novichok nerve agent that nearly killed former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia Skripal earlier this year.

Authorities confirmed Wednesday night that a couple, identified in British media as Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgess, were being treated for exposure to Novichok, a highly toxic nerve agent first developed in secret by the Soviet Union. 

The pair remain in critical condition after being rushed on Saturday to Salisbury District Hospital, the same hospital that treated former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia who were poisoned in March.

British investigators have descended upon a small English town to find out how the pair were exposed to the same Soviet-era nerve agent. Police say they don't believe that Rowley and Sturgess were deliberately targeted, unlike the Skripals, who British authorities suspect were the victims of a Russian plot.