The Litvinenko Inquiry

Chapter 4: Illness and death
Part 3 | Chapters 1 to 5 | Alexander Litvinenko
3.111 Mr Litvinenko was taken ill during the night of 1 November 2006. After a few days he
was admitted to Barnet Hospital. He spent two weeks there before being transferred
to University College Hospital (UCH) on 17 November. His condition gradually
deteriorated and he died on 23 November.
3.112 The purpose of this chapter is to record the evidence that I heard, much of it
uncontentious, regarding the events, and the course of Mr Litvinenko’s symptoms,
between 1 November and his death some three weeks later.
Onset of symptoms
3.113 Marina Litvinenko’s evidence was that Mr Litvinenko fell ill suddenly and unexpectedly
during the night of 1 November. I have referred above to the evidence that Mr Litvinenko
was generally in very good health. Although he had been sick a fortnight or so earlier
on the evening of 16 October (a subject to which I shall have to return in some
detail below), it seems that he had recovered from that episode within a couple of
days. 95 Mrs Litvinenko recalled that Mr Litvinenko had been “absolutely normal” on
31 October, 96 and was again “absolutely fine” on the evening of 1 November when he
returned from meetings in central London. 97 Because it was the anniversary of their
arrival in the UK, and their first such anniversary since acquiring British citizenship,
Mrs Litvinenko cooked a special meal, which she and Mr Litvinenko ate together.
Mr Litvinenko ate with a healthy appetite and suggested that they did not have a late
night because he had promised to take one of Mr Zakayev’s grandsons to school the
next day, as well as having more meetings in London. 98
3.114 Marina Litvinenko’s evidence was that Mr Litvinenko started vomiting in the early
hours of 2 November. He spent the rest of the night in the spare room, but carried on
vomiting. Mrs Litvinenko recalled that when she went to check him the next morning
he looked “very exhausted” and was vomiting “again and again”. 99
3.115 Mr Litvinenko’s condition worsened during the day on 2 November. He could not
keep any food or drink down. Mrs Litvinenko recalled telephoning a doctor in the
local Russian community, a man called Yuri Prikazchikov, who recommended that
Mr Litvinenko take salt and mineral solutions. She went to the chemist to buy the
suggested treatments, but Mr Litvinenko simply vomited them back up again. 100
3.116 By the middle of the next night, i.e. the early hours of 3 November, Mrs Litvinenko
decided to call an ambulance. She recalled that the ambulance came and that the
paramedics examined Mr Litvinenko, but that they said that he was probably suffering
from a bug or flu, and advised him to stay at home. 101 Statements from the two
members of the ambulance crew, which broadly confirmed this account, were read to
the Inquiry. 102
95
Marina Litvinenko 4/37 lines 11-16
96
Marina Litvinenko 4/45 line 9
97
Marina Litvinenko 4/48 line 17
98
Marina Litvinenko 4/48-49
99
Marina Litvinenko 4/49-51
100
Marina Litvinenko 4/50-53
101
Marina Litvinenko 4/53-54
102
Cole 17/119-122; Schofield 17/122-124
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