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British Policeman Poisoned in Attack Against Ex-Russian Spy Leaves the Hospital


FILE - The forensic tent, covering the bench where Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found, is repositioned by officials in protective suits in the center of Salisbury, Britain, March 8, 2018.
FILE - The forensic tent, covering the bench where Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found, is repositioned by officials in protective suits in the center of Salisbury, Britain, March 8, 2018.

The British police officer who was poisoned by a nerve agent when he tried to help an ex-Russian spy and his daughter was released from the hospital Thursday.

"There are really no words to explain how I feel right now," Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey said in a statement. "Surreal is the word that keeps coming up. ... I'm just a normal person with a normal life."

Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey
Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey

Bailey was hospitalized for three weeks in the southwestern English city of Salisbury.

The apparent intended target of the poisoning — former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia — are still unconscious and in critical condition.

Bailey rushed to their aid after finding them passed out on a bench near a shopping center on March 4.

Samples of their blood will be tested by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to try to determine exactly what kind of nerve agent was released.

Britain blames Russia for the poisoning.

Prime Minsiter Teresa May accused the Kremlin on Thursday of staging a "brazen and reckless attack ... the incident in Salisbury was part of a pattern of Russian aggression against Europe and its near neighbors, from the western Balkans to the Middle East."

Britain has expelled 23 Russian diplomats. Russia denies any involvement and expelled an equal number of British officials from Moscow.

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