Smells like we've embarked on a new era in WMD. A thousand little cuts.
33,000 BA passengers alerted over radiation The Telegraph hat tip Eric
British Airways is trying to contact all 33,000 passengers who may have been exposed to radioactive traces that were found on two of its planes.
Thousands of BA passengers were caught in the radiation scare last night after traces of a substance, thought to be the same that killed the former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, were found on the planes.
A spokesman for the airline said that, so far, 2,500 of the 33,000 passengers who are believed to have flown on 221 flights across Europe since the traces were found have called in to BA's dedicated helpline.
The Government grounded one plane on Tuesday and another yesterday. A third is in Moscow awaiting tests.
Police are focusing on flights from Moscow to Heathrow Airport on Oct 25 and 31 and in the other direction on Oct 28 and Nov 3. Since then, the planes, all Boeing 767s, have flown to Barcelona, Dusseldorf, Athens, Larnaka, Madrid, Vienna, Istanbul, Frankfurt and Stockholm.
BA has set up a helpline for affected passengers and those with symptoms of radiation poisoning, such as vomiting or bleeding gums, were advised to telephone NHS Direct. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said the risk to the public was low.
Mr Litvinenko was killed by polonium 210, which must be swallowed to be lethal. The search of the planes points the finger of suspicion more firmly at Moscow.
Moscow is mighty busy. Mighty busy. Seems to me all the evidence is pointing to Putin. He is killing any dissenters.
Yegor Gaidar, Russia’s former prime minister and the architect of the country’s market reforms, last week suffered a sudden, unexplained and violent illness on a visit to Ireland, a day after Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB spy, died in London from an apparent radiation poisoning.
Remember, Putin is a huge supporter of Iran.
