Nurse behind 5 patient deaths at UK hospital?

LONDON - British police on Thursday linked two more deaths to contamination of saline at a hospital in northwest England, as detectives questioned a nurse on suspicion of murder.

Greater Manchester Police said that the deaths of an 83-year-old man and an 84-year-old woman were being linked to the "deliberate contamination" of saline with insulin. Three other deaths are already being investigated.

Detectives were granted more time to question a 27-year-old nurse, Rebecca Leighton, who was arrested Wednesday but has not been charged. Police now have until Friday night to charge or release her.

The contamination was discovered last week after a nurse at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, northwest England, reported a higher-than-normal number of patients with unexplained low blood sugar levels.

Police have previously said tests are under way to find out whether the deaths of a 44-year-old woman and two men aged 71 and 84 were caused by the sabotage.

Several other patients were affected but recovered, and a man in his 40s is in critical condition.

All the deaths remain officially unexplained.

Security has been stepped up at the hospital, 150 miles (250 kilometers) northwest of London.

Police Assistant Chief Constable Ian Hopkins reassured people that there had been "no further incidents of deliberate damage of contamination" since police were called in.