A POTENTIAL saboteur was being hunted today at a hospital in northwestern England after three seriously-ill patients died from deliberately contaminated medication.

Nurses at Stepping Hill Hospital, in Stockport, Greater Manchester, became suspicious when patients on a particular ward began exhibiting unexplained symptoms of low blood sugar levels.

Greater Manchester Police is investigating the deaths of a 44-year-old woman and two men aged 71 and 84, as well as the possibility that the lives of another 11 patients were put at risk. They have since recovered.

Detective Superintendent Julian Ross, who is leading the inquiry, said, “I must stress the cause of death is not known, and any speculation about this would not be helpful to our investigation or welcomed by the families of these people.”

An experienced nurse raised the alarm Monday. Several ampoules of saline solution were discovered later to have been injected with insulin. Detectives were keeping an open mind as to whether the actions were by somebody who believed they were acting in the patients’ best interest or even some kind of bizarre accident.

Autopsies on the three patients were carried out Friday.