Reports: Authorities identify suspects in Novichok poisoning

July 19 (UPI) -- Two suspects have been identified by British police in the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

Investigators used facial recognition technology to find the two individuals, who are not known to have been spies or used in other attacks, CNN reported Thursday.

The British Press Association and The Telegraph also reported suspects have been identified.

Police have not released the names of the suspects, who are believed to have taken a commercial flight out of Britain soon after the attack on the Skripals in March.

Investigators say the suspects were identified after combing through months of surveillance camera footage from British airports and from Salisbury, and say the suspects are Russian.

Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy who later went to work for the British government, and daughter Yulia were hospitalized for weeks and ultimately discharged.

Sergei Skripal was an intelligence agent for both Russia and Britain, leading some to question whether the poisoning was an act of retribution.

Earlier this month, two British residents in Amesbury, a town eight miles north of Salisbury, became ill after being exposed to the same Soviet-era nerve agent. Police believe they somehow came into contact with the same type of poison used for the Skripals.

Dawn Sturgess, 44, died of the attack and partner Charlie Rowley, 45, remains in hospital.

British police found a small container of Novichok in the Rowleys and are investigating whether the poison is from the same batch from the March poisoning.