Police sealed off a street in Manchester after a man ingested an “unknown substance” believed to be ricin.
Emergency responders were seen by a witness arriving at a house in Wythenshawe wearing hazmat suits on Saturday morning.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said officers were called to the house just before 9am following concerns about a man’s welfare.
“It was established that the man had consumed an at-this-time unknown substance,” said a GMP spokesman.
“A scene is in place on Moor Lane, which is currently closed to traffic. There is no wider threat to the community.
It is understood the unnamed man, who is in his 20s, consumed poisonous seeds.
He was initially treated at the scene and then taken to Wythenshawe hospital, where he was said to be in stable condition.
Before emergency services arrived, a witness said the man’s mother came out of the house in her pyjamas, shouting: “Where are they? My f***ing son is dying in there. Where the f*** is the ambulance.”
Neighbours on the street told Manchester Evening News that paramedics were not allowed into the house until they had suited up.
The man was then carried out in a stretcher in a hazmat suit. He was accompanied by two family members.
