Staff fall ill after package opened in Moscow

Police were carrying out chemical tests at the Moscow office of the British oil giant BP today after staff fell ill following the arrival of suspicious mail.

Police said a person calling from the BP office said that employees suffered headaches, rashes and felt a stinging in their eye after handling mail that had arrived from Houston, Texas.

Police experts were testing the air and the mail for chemicals, but found no powder or liquid inside the envelopes, Moscow police spokesman Pavel Klimovsky said.

Officials at BP in Moscow could not be immediately reached for comment.