Poisoned

Alexander Litvinenko, the former KGB agent living in exile in London, died in hospital last night, three weeks after apparently ingesting a mysterious poison which has baffled doctors.

In a statement at 11pm, a spokesman for University College hospital, Jim Down, said: "We are sorry to announce that Alexander Litvinenko died at 9.21pm." He said "every avenue" had been explored in the hospital's attempt to save him. "He was seriously ill when he was admitted on November 17 and the medical team at the hospital did everything possible to save his life."

Mr Litvinenko, 43, a fierce critic of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, suffered a heart attack on Wednesday night and his condition had been deteriorating rapidly.

Hours before losing consciousness, as medical staff struggled to discover what had caused the critical illness, the former intelligence officer told a friend, the film-maker Andrei Nekrasov, how much he wanted to live. "I want to survive, just to show them," he told Mr Nekrasov, who spoke to the Times. "The bastards got me, but they won't get everybody."


Ian Cobain, Jeevan Vasagar and Lee Glendinning
November 24, 2006
Guardian