Death Toll Rising From UK Nerve Agent Tests
[Original headline: Chemical war trials ‘death toll’ soarsl]
Police are now investigating the deaths of 45 servicemen following chemical warfare trials at Porton Down, reports suggested last night.
Relatives claim they died prematurely as a result of exposure to nerve agents and other deadly substances at the secret Wiltshire defence laboratories.
The new figure was quoted by the BBC, which did not name its sources — but said the figure could rise to 75.
No one was available to comment last night from the 21-strong team of Wiltshire and Defence Ministry police involved in the investigation.
The probe was launched last year after complaints about the death of RAF volunteer Ronald Maddison at the Chemical Defence Establishment in 1953.
He died following contact with nerve agent during one of thousands of tests on human guinea pigs at the complex, now run by the DERA — the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency.
Police team are looking at dozens of other allegations of unlawful killing and ill-health sustained by Porton volunteers over a 50-year period.
An estimated 20,000 men and women took part in tests from the 1930s to the end of the cold war.
Publicity has prompted more than 300 people to contact the police team, who have an office at Porton.
These have included widows who have complained about the premature deaths of their husbands.
• Story originally published by •
Western Daily Press / Bristol - August 3 2000
