The star Online
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Authorities found traces of radiation on two British Airways aircraft in London, grounded a third plane in Moscow, and asked passengers on more than 200 flights to come forward as investigators widened their search for clues in the poisoning death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko.
All three planes had been on the London-Moscow route, British Airways said. In the past three weeks the planes had also travelled to routes across Europe, including Barcelona, Frankfurt and Athens. Around 30 000 passengers had travelled on 220 flights on those planes, said Kate Gay, a spokesperson for the airline.
Litvinenko, a former colonel with Russia's Federal Security Service, had been a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin before his death from radiation poisoning on November 23.
A high dose of polonium-210 - a rare radioactive element usually manufactured in specialised nuclear facilities - was found in his body.
Britain's health protection agency began a screening programme for people who visited the same venues as Litvinenko on November 1. Traces of radiation have been found at six sites visited by the ex-spy.
British Airways officials said the British government contacted them late on Tuesday and told them to ground the planes to allow investigators looking into the death of the former intelligence agent to test for radiation.
Two planes at London's Heathrow Airport tested positive for traces of radiation. The third plane had been taken out of service in Moscow awaiting examination, the airline said.
"The airline is in the process of making contact with customers who have travelled on flights operated by these aircraft, which operate within Europe," British Airways said. It added: "British Airways understands from advice it has been given that the risk to public health is low."
The airline has published a list of the flights affected on its website, and told customers on these flights to contact a special helpline set up by the Health Ministry.
Britain's Home Secretary John Reid, who chaired a meeting of Cobra, the government's emergency committee, said the tests on the planes were part of a wider scientific investigation into sites that could be linked to Litvinenko's death.
Earlier yesterday, Italian security expert Mario Scaramella, one of the last people to see Litvinenko before he fell ill, said tests had cleared him of radioactive contamination.
Scaramella travelled from Rome to meet Litvinenko at a sushi bar in London on November 1, the day the former intelligence agent first reported the symptoms that ultimately led to his death in the intensive care ward of a London hospital.
Scaramella said he was in security protection and refused to say where he was.
More than three dozen staff at the two hospitals that treated Litvinenko would be tested for radioactive contamination, the Health Protection Agency said earlier yesterday.
Media reports in Britain and Russia yesterday alleged that Litvinenko had been engaged in smuggling nuclear substances out of Russia for his former employers at Russia's Federal Security Service.