Iraq war veteran Andy Tosh points to his nose where he was treated for skin cancer and shows the red marks on his hand.
His health has been permanently damaged – not by the baking heat of the Iraqi desert, he says, but by a toxic chemical at the industrial site he was ordered to guard.
“It’s clear British troops were knowingly exposed,” the 58-year-old former RAF sergeant says.
Sky News can reveal that nearly 100 British troops may have been exposed to sodium dichromate while guarding the Qarmat Ali water treatment plant in 2003.
Ten British veterans who guarded the plant have now spoken publicly about their ordeal – and say they feel “betrayed” by the UK government after struggling with a range of health problems, including daily nosebleeds, a brain tumour and three who have been diagnosed with cancer.
Image: Sergeant Andy Tosh in Iraq. Pic: Andy Tosh
Described as a “deadly poison”, sodium dichromate is a known carcinogen. The ground at Qarmat Ali was covered in it, according to the former servicemen.
The Ministry of Defence says it is willing to meet the veterans to work with them going forward – but the former troops say they want answers and accountability.
Image: The gates of Qarmat Ali. Pic: Roger Pursall
‘It was like a scrapyard’
In the opening months of the Iraq war, around 88 British troops were deployed to Qarmat Ali, providing an armed guard detail round the clock.
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Located near Basra, Qarmat Ali was built in the 1970s to pump water through a network of pipes in order to flush out oil nearby.
Wearing heavy combat gear, British soldiers endured baking 50C heat in the day and listened to rocket fire from insurgents at night as they patrolled the industrial facility.
What they didn’t know was that the place was contaminated with sodium dichromate, a chemical used to prevent corrosion.
Before the US took over the site, the water was filtered and treated with sodium dichromate to increase the life of pipelines, pumps, and other equipment.
Image: Sodium Dichromate is highly carcinogenic. Pic: Ondrej Mangl
It’s a type of hexavalent chromium, a group of compounds made famous by the 2000 film Erin Brockovich, which dramatised the contamination of water around a California town.
Members of the military described how thousands of bags of the orange powder were kept in a building with no roof, some of them ripped open, exposing their contents to the wind. Others were spread throughout the facility.
So why were British soldiers there at all?
Qarmat Ali was considered critical to getting Iraq’s oil production up and running after Saddam Hussein was defeated, and the US government appointed contractors KBR to run the site.
US soldiers would escort a convoy of KBR workers to Qarmat Ali on day trips, where they worked under the protection of British RAF troops.
Image: The site was in disrepair when they arrived. Pic: Andy Tosh
“It was like a scrapyard,” says Jim Garth, a former corporal who was deployed to Iraq after serving in Northern Ireland.
Amid the chaos of the invasion, much of the site had been looted for metal. Leaking chlorine gas canisters lay on the ground.
But what could not be explained were the nosebleeds, rashes and lesions suffered by UK troops stationed there, say the former servicemen, and among the US soldiers who visited the site.
“I noticed a rash on my forearms,” Mr Tosh said. “I’d operated in other hot tropical countries, I’ve never had a rash like I had on my forearms.
“Other members of our teams had different symptoms but at the time we had no idea why.”
It was a mystery.
Image: Workers appeared wearing hazmat suits and respirators and put up the warning sign. Pic: Andy Tosh
That is, until two workers in hazmat suits and respirator masks turned up in August 2003 and put up a sign with a skull and crossbones on it.
“Warning. Chemical hazard. Full protective equipment and chemical respirator required. Sodium dichromate exposure” the sign read.
“We were shocked,” Mr Tosh added. “We’d already been on that site for months, being exposed.
“It was a different type of threat that none of us could really understand.”
Image: Andy Tosh in Iraq. Pic: Andy Tosh
And the yellowy orange powder wasn’t just on the ground, it was blown around in the wind, Mr Garth says.
“So unbeknownst to us it was all around us all the time,” he added.
An investigation by the US defence department found service members and civilians were “unintentionally exposed” to toxic chemicals.
Image: The warning sign went up months after UK troops arrived at the site. Pic: Eric Page
The report also pointed blame at KBR for a delay in recognising and responding to the hazard posed by sodium dichromate.
It said KBR became aware of the use of sodium dichromate at Qarmat Ali as early as 31 May 2003, when the company reviewed an Iraqi operating manual describing the use of the chemical at the facility.
According to the report, both KBR and Task Force Restore Iraqi Oil, the military group responsible for restoring Iraqi oil production, reported in June 2003 that the site was potentially contaminated with sodium dichromate, which they recognised as a carcinogen.
Image: The Qarmat Ali water treatment facility in 2004. Pic: Getty
US commander’s death linked to sodium dichromate
The plight of US troops who were exposed to sodium dichromate at Qarmat Ali is far better documented than their UK counterparts.
National guardsmen who visited the site have become ill, leading to a formal inquiry and government support for veterans across the pond.
“While I was at Qarmat Ali, I began suffering from severe nosebleeds,” Russell Powell, an American former medic, told a Senate inquiry.
Within three days of arriving at the plant in April 2003 he developed rashes on his knuckles, hands and forearms, he said.
Others in his platoon suffered similar ailments, he added.
Mr Powell said he had questioned a KBR worker about the powder, who said his supervisors had told him not to worry about it.
Image: Evidence of the contamination was seen in various places. Pic: Eric Page
Speaking at a hearing in 2009 held as part of the inquiry, Mr Powell added: “My symptoms have not changed since my service in Iraq… I cannot take a full breath.”
Lieutenant-Colonel James Gentry, of the Indiana National Guard, was stationed at Qarmat Ali in 2003.
“They had this information and didn’t share it,” he said in a deposition video, his face pale as he struggled to breathe. He was referring to contractors KBR.
“I’m dying now because of it.”
Lt Col Gentry died from cancer in 2009. The US Army deemed that his death was “in line of duty for exposure to sodium dichromate”, according to court documents.
Image: Both US and UK troops were exposed to sodium dichromate. Pic: Andy Tosh
Court case against KBR overturned
In a high profile court case, 12 US servicemen were awarded $85m (£66.4m) after a jury found KBR failed to protect them from exposure to cancer-causing chemicals.
Each soldier was awarded $7.1m for “reckless and outrageous indifference” to their health in the trial in Oregon.
However, the case was overturned after KBR argued the Oregon court did not have jurisdiction and it should be transferred to Texas.
Ultimately, an appeals court decided in favour of KBR, affirming a previous ruling that the Qarmat Ali veterans had not provided sufficient evidence that any health issues were caused by sodium dichromate.
Image: British troops at Qarmat Ali. Pic: Andy Tosh
‘My nose just started gushing with blood’
In the UK, there has been no dedicated ongoing support for Qarmat Ali veterans, and silence from the government, the former British servicemen say.
They say they feel let down and worry they could develop cancer at any time as a result of their exposure two decades ago.
Mr Tosh, who left the RAF in 2006 after nearly 24 years of service, says he’s had skin cancer on his nose and marks on his right hand.
“That’s the hand for holding my weapon which would have had more dust or toxic chemical potentially on it,” he told Sky News from his home in Lincoln, where he lives with his wife.
Fellow veteran Tim Harrison says he has experienced worsening nose bleeds in recent years, which he believes are the result of his exposure to sodium dichromate.
Now working as a paramedic and living in Doncaster, he told Sky News: “Last year, I was at work and all of a sudden my nose just started gushing with blood.
“[I] couldn’t stop it for two to three hours and I had to get admitted to A&E and stay overnight.”
Image: Tim Harrison is now a paramedic living in Doncaster. Pic: Tim Harrison
Since then, Mr Harrison says he has daily nosebleeds as well as skin lesions on his legs.
“What’s going to happen in 10 years time? What else is going on?” he asks.
Mr Garth has had skin cancer, including a lesion on his neck and spots on his head – both areas less likely to have been covered by his combat gear in the heat.
Another Qarmat Ali veteran, Craig Warner, was medically discharged from the RAF after he was found to have a brain tumour, a condition his surgeon attributed to chemical exposure.
Image: A group of 88 RAF personnel were assigned to guard the site. Pic: Tony Watters
Other veterans who say they have long-term health problems after being exposed at Qarmat Ali include Eric Page, who has been treated for testicular cancer that had spread to his stomach lymph nodes and severe headaches, Ben Evans, whose nose had to be cauterised to stop nosebleeds, Tony Watters, whose arms itch until they bleed, Andrew Day, who has regular nosebleeds and lesions on his arms, and Darren Waters, who has a rash on his shin.
And they’re not the only ones from their squadron who have become unwell, they say. Two others are reported to have died – although it’s not been confirmed if their deaths are related to health problems linked to Qarmat Ali.
Just one of the Qarmat Ali veterans to have spoken to Sky News is without ongoing symptoms, but he said he worries about what could happen in the future.
Some who served there may still be unaware of the exposure at all, the veterans say.
Image: Qarmat Ali seen from satellite in February 2002. Pic: Google Maps
What does the science say about sodium dichromate?
A 2019 analysis of existing studies found that hexavalent chromium (of which sodium dichromate is a type) may cause cancers of the respiratory system, buccal cavity and pharynx, prostate, and stomach in humans, and it is related to increased risk of overall mortality owing to lung, larynx, bladder, kidney, testicular, bone, and thyroid cancer.
During the Senate inquiry, epidemiologist Herman Gibb said symptoms reported by soldiers during their time at the site were consistent with significant exposure to sodium dichromate.
He said it was “possible” that chromium could cause continuing symptoms after leaving the body given its “highly irritative nature”.
Asked by Sky News whether skin cancers developed by veterans years later could be linked to Qarmat Ali, he said it was “more likely than not” caused by sun exposure rather than the chemical.
But he added that it was possible that damage to the skin caused by chromium could have been exacerbated by sunlight to the point of developing a skin tumour. This was difficult to know without further research, he said.
Image: Tony Watters on patrol. Pic: Tony Watters
UK veterans want answers – and an apology
Now discharged from the military, and two decades after they were posted to Qarmat Ali, the British veterans say they want the Ministry of Defence to take responsibility.
“Is it a cover up? I don’t want to believe it, but it’s true,” Mr Garth says.
Mr Tosh adds: “I’d hate to think, nowadays, out of the number of people who went there, how many people are ill or maybe have passed away.”
They want a public inquiry into what happened and for the Ministry of Defence to ensure that everyone who served at Qarmat Ali has been contacted and offered ongoing medical support.
“We shouldn’t have been there in the first place. But even when the warning signs went up, why did they make us stay?” asks Mr Tosh.
“Because we’re expendable. Because it was pumping oil, that site was much more important than any of our lives.”
Image: British soldiers guarded the water treatment plant for 24 hours at a time. Pic: Andy Tosh
In a statement to Sky News, the Ministry of Defence said: “We value the service of our personnel and all operations have health and safety policies in place to mitigate against risk.
“As soon as we were alerted to the possible exposure of sodium dichromate, an environmental survey was conducted to evaluate typical exposure at Qarmat Ali. Results showed that the levels at the time were significantly below UK government guidance levels.
“Anyone who requires medical treatment can receive it through the Defence Medical Services and other appropriate services.
“Veterans who believe they have suffered ill health due to service can apply for no-fault compensation under the War Pensions Scheme.”
In a statement to Sky News, KBR said: “The company was performing work at the direction of the US Army under the extreme and continually-evolving conditions of wartime Iraq.
“KBR abided by the war zone chain of command. KBR reasonably, timely, and repeatedly notified the US Army of sodium dichromate at the facility upon discovering it, and acted promptly to address it. All of the claims made against KBR were dismissed by US courts.
“KBR is a proud supporter of US and Allied forces and serve these nations with integrity and honour.”
CCTV images have been released of a jailed asylum seeker who was accidentally freed from prison – as police detailed the last sighting of him.
Hadush Kebatu was released in error from HMP Chelmsford on Friday instead of being handed over to immigration officials for deportation – one month into a 12-month sentence.
As the manhunt continues, the images show him in the Essex town on Friday and later the same day in Dalston, east London, where he was carrying a “distinctive white bag with pictures of avocados on it”, said the Metropolitan Police.
The last sighting of Kebatu is thought to have been in Dalston CLR James Library in Dalston Square on Friday evening.
The Ethiopian national had been found guilty in September of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman in Epping.
His crimes while staying at The Bell Hotel in Epping sparked weeks of protests over the summer.
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2:11
Police call on public to assist on manhunt
The Met Police, which has been leading the search for Kebatu, alongside Essex Police and the British Transport Police, has made a direct appeal Kebatu to hand himself in.
He left Chelmsford train station at 12.42pm on Friday and arrived at Stratford station in east London soon after at 1.12pm.
Kebatu had since taken “a number of journeys” across London and had “access to funds”, according to Met Commander James Conway.
Image: (L-R) Hadush Kebatu in Chelmsford on Friday and later in Dalston, east London. Pic: Met Police
Last sighting
The force said he was last seen shortly before 8pm on Friday evening in the Dalston area of Hackney in east London.
It has released two CCTV images of him from Friday, one in Chelmsford where he was wearing his prison-issued, grey tracksuit and holding a clear, plastic bag containing his possessions.
Image: Hadush Kebatu was arrested in July. Pic: Crown Prosecution Service/PA
The other was taken in Dalston, where he was still wearing his grey tracksuit, but was carrying his belongings “in a distinctive white bag with pictures of avocados on it”.
A Met statement added: “Additional officers have been deployed to the area to carry out further searches, but we are appealing for the help of local residents to report any sightings as soon as possible.”
Mr Conway has asked for members of the public who have given assistance to Kebatu to contact them or anyone who sees him to call 999.
And in a direct appeal to Kebatu, Mr Conway added: “We want to locate you in a safe and controlled way.
“You had already indicated a desire to return to Ethiopia when speaking to immigration staff, the best outcome for you is to make contact directly with us by either calling 999 or reporting yourself to a police station.”
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The witness, called Sim, said Kebatu came out of the jail saying, “Where am I going? What am I doing?” and hanging around for about 90 minutes as he tried to find out where he should be going.
Sim said the offender returned to the prison “four or five times” but was turned away.
He said Kebatu knew he should be deported but the prison staff were “basically sending him away” and saying to him, “Go, you’ve been released, you go”.
Image: Hadush Kebatu, who was jailed for two sexual assaults in Epping. Pic: Essex Police/PA
Kebatu was spotted later in Chelmsford town centre asking for assistance before getting on a train to London.
HM Prison and Probation Service is introducing new and mandatory procedures for prisoner releases after Kebatu was mistakenly freed, Ministry of Justice sources say.
Duty governors, who are responsible for the daily secure operation of prisons, will now be required to complete additional checks the evening before a release, it is understood.
Governors will need to provide assurance that the procedure is in place on Monday, Sky News understands.
Justice Secretary David Lammy said on Friday night that Kebatu was “at large in London”. He said he was “livid on behalf of the public” and added that he had launched an investigation.
Sir Keir Starmer said he was “appalled” at the accidental release and said it was “totally unacceptable”, adding: “This man must be caught and deported for his crimes.”
A prison officer has been taken off duties to discharge prisoners while an investigation takes place.
Former Commons leader Lucy Powell has been crowned Labour’s new deputy leader in a closely fought race against Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson.
Ms Powell received 87,407 votes to Ms Phillipson’s 73,536 – a majority of 13,871 – in a contest that was widely perceived as a referendum on Sir Keir Starmer’s popularity with the membership.
Ms Powell was seen as the “anti-Starmer” candidate given she was sacked from cabinet just last month, and centred her campaign on being an independent voice for the backbenches.
Ms Phillipson was seen as Number 10’s preferred option, and she had pitched herself as the “unity candidate”, warning that voting for her opponent would result in “internal debate and divisions that leads us back to opposition”.
However speaking to Sky News’s political editor Beth Rigby following the result, Ms Powell insisted she would be a “friend” to the prime minister, adding: “I am confident we can work well together.”
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She said she was not here to “write an alternative policy platform” but rather “to make sure Labour values and beliefs are right at the heart of the conversation, and that we’re giving a really clear sense of who we’re for”.
Ms Powell’s earlier victory speech made clear where she thought Labour was going wrong, and what she would challenge the government on.
The Manchester Central MP said Labour “won’t win by trying to out-Reform Reform, but by building a broad progressive consensus”.
She said that started with “wrestling back the political megaphone” from Reform leader Nigel Farage, and “setting the agenda more strongly”.
“Let’s be honest, we’ve let Farage and his ilk run away with it. He wants to blame immigration for all the country’s problems. We reject that,” she said.
“Our diagnosis is different, that for too long the country and the economy has worked in the interests of the few, not the many.”
The reference to “for the many not the few” – the slogan during Jeremy Corbyn’s time at the helm, was not lost on his then shadow chancellor John McDonnell.
The veteran left-winger said on X: “The Labour Party members have spoken & the message is clear, they want change. It’s good to see a return to references to the Labour Party serving once more the many not the few & that Labour must not try out Reform, Reform. Our members realise a new start is desperately needed.”
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The scandal sparked a reshuffle in which Ms Powell was one of the only casualties. It makes the new partnership potentially very awkward for Sir Keir, especially as his new deputy will be free to speak out against his policies from the back benches rather than being bound by collective responsibility like Ms Phillipson.
However in a possible olive branch, Sky News understands Ms Powell will be asked to attend political cabinet meetings, even though she will not officially be a member of cabinet.
Tory chairman Kevin Hollinrake said “weak Keir Starmer” has had an unwanted deputy leader “imposed on him by the Labour Party”, adding: “The failure of the Keir Starmer candidate, Bridget Philipson, is another defeat of the prime minister’s authority.”
Turnout for the vote was low – just 16.6%, suggesting a lack of enthusiasm among party members and its affiliates.
Sir Keir congratulated Ms Powell after the results were announced, saying she “has always been a proud defender of Labour values, and that is exactly what we need at this moment”.
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4:21
PM: Powell is ‘a proud defender of Labour values’
He echoed some of her language around immigration, as he attacked the Tories for this week suggesting they supported a policy to deport people who have settled in the UK legally, something Reform UK has advocated.
“That is what we’re up against on the right of politics, a politics of division and grievance that wants to take this great country to a very dark place”, Sir Keir said.
PM warns of ‘battle for the soul of our nation’
The prime minister is under pressure as the party plummets in the polls, with many MPs on the left predicting he could be gone by May if the local elections go badly.
He said it was a “bad result” and “a reminder that people need to look out their window and see change and renewal in their community, opportunities for their children, public services rebuilt, the cost of living crisis tackled”.
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2:16
Phillipson ‘disappointed to lose’
“We must unite. We must keep our focus on what is, in my view, the defining battle for the soul of our nation. I know that Lucy will do just that,” he said.
Saturday’s result is the culmination of a six week contest, with the pair having had to secure nominations from 80 MPs in the first round and then win the backing of 5% of local parties or Labour affiliated groups before making it to the final vote.
The manhunt for a migrant who sexually assaulted a schoolgirl, and was released from prison in error, is ongoing.
Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu was jailed for 12 months earlier this year after he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl and a woman in Epping.
He had been staying in the Bell Hotel in Epping and his arrest triggered large-scale protests and disorder.
The Ethiopian national, who came to the UK on a small boat in the summer, is now being searched for by the police after he was accidentally freed on Friday.
Image: Hadush Kebatu, jailed for two sexual assaults in Epping. Pic: Essex Police / PA
How many prisoners are released in error?
According to government statistics published in July, 262 prisoners were released in error in the 12 months to March 2025 – a 128% increase from 115 the previous year.
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The report states: “Of the 262 releases in error, 233 of these releases in error occurred from prison establishments, while 29 were released in error at the courts.
“Releases in error from establishments could also be a result of errors by the court.”
This is out of a total prison population across England and Wales of roughly 86,000.
Sky News has contacted the HM Prison & Probation Service to know how many of the 262 prisoners have since been found and returned to custody.
In September 2024, Sky News reported how dozens of people released from jail under the government’s emergency prison scheme were freed by mistake.
The Labour government said it was forced to release hundreds of inmates early because prisons were at capacity.
Image: William Fernandez. Pic: PA
Kebatu, who is thought to be in the London area, was due to be deported when he was mistakenly released from HMP Chelmsford on Friday.
Previous high-profile manhunts
William Fernandez, who was awaiting trial for sexual assault, was released from HMP Wormwood by error in March 2021. He then went on to rape a 16-year-old girl and sexually assault a young woman.
Image: Joseph McCann. Pic: Police handout
In December 2019, the prisons and probation service “apologised unreservedly” after serial rapist Joseph McCann was freed to commit a series of sex attacks on women and children.