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.”
The child who died in a school coach crash in Somerset on Thursday was a 10-year-old boy, Avon and Somerset Police have said.
A specially trained officer is supporting the child’s family, the force said, adding that two children taken to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children by air ambulance remain there as of Friday.
Four children and three adults also remain in hospital in Somerset.
There were between 60 to 70 people on board when the incident happened near Minehead, just before 3pm on Thursday.
The coach was heading to Minehead Middle School when it crashed on the A396 between Wheddon Cross and Timbercombe.
Image: Pic: PA
Police said that 21 people were taken to hospital, including two children who were taken via air ambulance.
Gavin Ellis, chief fire officer for Devon and Somerset, said the coach “overturned onto its roof and slid approximately 20ft down an embankment”.
Rachel Gilmour, MP for Tiverton and Minehead, said the road where it happened is “very difficult to manoeuvre”.
“You have a very difficult crossing at Wheddon Cross, and as you come out to dip down into Timbercombe, the road is really windy and there are very steep dips on either side,” she told Sky’s Anna Botting.
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“You have looked after each [other] in what was a life-changing event, we will get through this together,” they wrote on Facebook.
“I feel so lucky to be your teacher. I am so grateful to my wonderful colleagues during this time who were also fighting to help as many people as we could.”
Maria’s treatment by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) was so shocking the chief constable described it as “undefendable” and yet a year after a high-profile inquiry found she had been “unlawfully” arrested and strip-searched, Maria now has a criminal conviction for the crime the inquiry said she should never have been arrested for.
Warning: This story includes graphic descriptions of strip searches and references to domestic violence.
The Baird Inquiry – named after its lead Dame Vera Baird – into GMP, published a year ago, found that the force made numerous unlawful arrests and unlawful strip searches on vulnerable women. A year on, the review has led to major changes in police processes.
Strip searches for welfare purposes, where the person is deemed at risk of harming themselves, are banned, and the mayor’s office told Sky News only one woman was intimately strip-searched to look for a concealed item by GMP last year.
Women had previously told Sky News the practice was being used by police “as a power trip” or “for the police to get their kicks”.
However, several women who gave evidence to the Baird Inquiry have told Sky News they feel let down and are still fighting for accountability and to get their complaints through the bureaucracy of a painfully slow system.
The case of Maria (not her real name) perhaps best illustrates how despite an inquiry pointing out her “terrible treatment”, she continues to face the consequences of what the police did.
Image: ‘Maria’ said she was treated like a piece of meat by GMP
‘Treated like a piece of meat’
The story begins with an act of poor service. A victim of domestic violence, Maria went to the police to get keys off her arrested partner but was made to wait outside for five-and-a-half hours.
The Baird Inquiry said: “This domestic abuse victim, alone in a strange city, made 14 calls for police to help her.
“She was repeatedly told that someone would contact her, but nobody did. The pattern didn’t change, hour after hour, until eventually she rang, sobbing and angry.”
The police then arrested her for malicious communications, saying she’d sworn at staff on the phone.
Inside the police station, officers strip-searched her because they thought she was concealing a vape. Maria told Sky News she was “treated like a piece of meat”.
The Baird Inquiry says of the demeaning humiliation: “Maria describes being told to take all her clothes off and, when completely naked, to open the lips of her vagina so the police could see inside and to bend over and open her anal area similarly.”
Image: Chief Constable Stephen Watson said the actions towards Maria were ‘inexplicable’
After the inquiry found all this not only “terrible” but “unlawful”, Chief Constable Stephen Watson described the actions of his officers towards Maria as “an inexplicable and undefendable exercise of police power”.
He added: “We’ve done the wrong thing, in the wrong way and we’ve created harm where harm already existed.”
Despite all of this, the charges of malicious communication were not dropped. They hung over Maria since her arrest in May 2023. Then in March this year, magistrates convicted her of the offence, and she was fined.
Dame Vera’s report describes the arrest for malicious communications as “pointless”, “unlawful”, “not in the public interest” and questions whether the officer had taken “a dislike to Maria”. Yet, while Maria gained a criminal record, no officer has been disciplined over her treatment.
A GMP spokesperson said: “The court has tested the evidence for the matter that Maria was arrested for, and we note the outcome by the magistrate. We have a separate investigation into complaints made about the defendant’s arrest and her treatment whilst in police custody.”
The complaint was referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) in August 2023 and Maria was told several months ago the report was completed, but she has not heard anything since.
Image: Dame Vera Baird’s report catalogues the ‘unlawful’ arrest and strip search of various individuals by GMP
‘There’s been no accountability’
Dame Vera’s report also catalogues the “unlawful” arrest and strip search of Dannika Stewart in October 2023 at the same police station. Dannika is still grinding through the police complaints service to get a formal acknowledgement of their failings.
She told Sky News: “Everyone involved in it is still in the same position. There’s been no accountability from the police. We’re still fighting the complaint system, we’re still trying to prove something which has already been proved by an independent inquiry.”
Image: Body cam footage of Dannika Stewart being arrested
Asked if anyone had been disciplined, Chief Constable Watson told Sky News: “There are ongoing investigations into individual failings, but for the most part the Baird review talked about systemic failings of leadership, it talked of failings in policy and failings of systems.
“In some cases, those people who may have misconducted themselves at the level of professional standards have retired. There are no criminal proceedings in respect of any individual.”
He added: “Every single element of the Baird inquiry has been taken on board – every single one of those recommendations has been implemented – we believe ourselves to be at the forefront of practice.”
‘It’s been three years’
Mark Dove who was also found by the inquiry to have been unlawfully arrested three times and twice unlawfully stripped-searched says he’s been in the complaints system for three years now.
He told Sky News: “There have been improvements in that I’m being informed more, but ultimately there’s no timeline. It’s been three years, and I have to keep pushing them. And I’ve not heard of anyone being suspended.”
Image: Mark Dove was found to have been unlawfully arrested three times and unlawfully strip-searched twice
Sophie (not her real name), a domestic violence victim who was also found by the review team to have been unlawfully arrested by GMP, told Sky News that although most of her complaints were eventually upheld they had originally been dismissed and no officer has faced any consequences.
She said: “They put on record that I’d accepted a caution when I hadn’t – and then tried to prosecute me. Why has no one been disciplined? These are people’s lives. I could have lost my job. Where is the accountability?”
Since the Baird Inquiry, every strip search by GMP is now reviewed by a compliance team. GMP also provides all female suspects in custody with dignity packs including sanitary products, and they work with the College of Policing to ensure all officers are trained to recognise and respond to the effects of domestic and sexual trauma on survivors.
Image: Kate Green, deputy mayor for Greater Manchester for policing and crime
The deputy mayor for Greater Manchester for policing and crime, Kate Green, says the lessons of the Baird Inquiry should reach all police forces.
She said: “I would strongly recommend that other forces, if they don’t already follow GMP’s practise in not conducting so-called welfare strip searches, similarly cease to carry out those searches. It’s very difficult to see how a traumatising search can be good for anybody’s welfare, either the officers or the detainees. We’ve managed to do that now for well over a year.”
Ms Green also suggests a national review of the police complaints system.
Deputy Chief Constable Terry Woods, of GMP, said: “Our reformed Professional Standards Directorate (PSD) has increased the quality of complaints handling and improved timeliness.
“Where officers have been found to breach our standards then we have not hesitated to remove them from GMP, with more than 100 officers being dismissed on the chief constable’s watch.
“Out of 14 complaints relating to Dame Vera’s report, four have been completed. Our PSD continues to review and investigate the other complaints.
“We’re committed to being held to account for our use of arrests and our performance in custody.
“By its nature, custody has – and always will be – a challenging environment.
“However, basic provisions and processes must always be met and, while we’re confident our progress is being recognised across policing, we stand ready to act on feedback.”
One child has died after a coach bringing children back from a school trip crashed and overturned near Minehead, Somerset, police have said.
A major incident was declared after the vehicle, which had 60-70 people on board, crashed on the A396 Cutcombe Hill, between Wheddon Cross and Timbercombe, shortly before 3pm on Thursday afternoon.
The coach was heading to Minehead Middle School at the time.
At a news conference on Thursday night, officials confirmed one child died at the scene.
A further 21 patients were taken to hospital, including two children who were transported via air ambulance. “Several” other people were treated at the scene, they added.
Image: A police officer near the scene of the coach crash in Somerset. Pic: PA
“This has been an incredibly challenging scene for all emergency services,” Chief Superintendent Mark Edgington said.
“Today’s events are truly tragic, we know the whole community and wider area will be utterly devastated to learn of this news.”
An investigation into what caused the crash will be carried out, he added.
Gavin Ellis, the chief fire officer for Devon and SomersetFire & Rescue Service, said the coach “overturned onto its roof and slid approximately 20ft down an embankment”.
He praised an off-duty firefighter who was travelling behind the vehicle for helping at the scene, before crews then arrived to carry out rescues “in extremely difficult circumstances”.
“I’m grateful for the tireless effort and actions of the crews in doing everything they could for those who were trapped and as quickly as safely as possible,” he said.
“I’m extremely proud of the efforts that my firefighters took today at this tragic event.”
Eight fire engines were sent to the scene, with two specialist rescue appliances and around 60 fire personnel, Mr Ellis said.
A total of 20 double-crewed ambulances, three air ambulances and two hazardous area response teams were also sent to the scene, a representative for the South Western Ambulance Service said.
Image: Pic: PA
Ch Supt Mark Edgington said: “Many passengers either sustained minor injuries or were physically unharmed and were transferred to a rest centre.
“Work to help them return to Minehead has been taking place throughout the evening.
“An investigation into the cause of this incident will be carried out.”
Minehead Middle School has pupils aged between nine and 14, and is five days away from the end of term.
‘I don’t have words,’ says local MP
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‘From one mother to another, I feel your pain’
Rachel Gilmour, MP for Tiverton and Minehead, has said the road where the coach crashed is “very difficult to manoeuvre”.
Speaking to Sky News chief presenter Anna Botting, Ms Gilmour said she visited Minehead Middle School recently, where she “met the children and they were full of joy, enthusiasm and were very positive”.
“I know many of their parents,” she said. “I don’t have words.”
Describing the scene, Gilmour continued: “You have a very difficult crossing at Wheddon Cross, and as you come out to dip down into Timbercombe, the road is really windy and there are very steep dips on either side.
“If the coach, as the police are saying, went 20ft off the road, you are literally on a really, really steep bank.”
The MP, whose constituency is partly in Devon and partly in Somerset, said there is a “really, really close community”.
“We will pull together, but it would be crass of me to say to a parent who’s just lost their child that I could make things better, I can’t,” she said.
“All I can say is that from one mother to another, I feel your pain.”
Image: Cutcombe Hill near Minehead, where the accident took place. Pic: Google Maps
Sir Keir Starmer said in a post on X: “There are no adequate words to acknowledge the death of a child. All my thoughts are with their parents, family and friends, and all those affected.
“Thank you to the emergency workers who are responding at pace – I’m being kept up to date on this situation.”
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson wrote: “It is heartbreaking to hear that a child has died and others are seriously injured following the incident in Minehead earlier today.
“My thoughts are with their friends and families, and all those affected by this tragic event.”