Buzz
During the 1930s, scientists were experimenting with new insecticides. To their shock, they realized that two of their most potent chemicals triggered severe health issues in humans. These were the first nerve agents ever created.
Famous for their agonizing impact, these lethal compounds evoke a blend of dread, disgust, and a touch of Cold War intrigue. Below are ten chilling events that showcase their deadly capabilities.
10. Skull Valley Sheep Incident - United States
The Dugway Proving Ground in Utah had been a site for testing numerous nerve agent sprays without any prior issues. However, on March 13, 1968, everything changed when 1,211 liters (320 gallons) of the nerve agent VX were released over a designated area. The following day, local shepherds and farmers observed their sheep collapsing and dying in prolonged agony. Initial symptoms included disorientation, unsteady movements, and violent neck jerking. Once the sheep collapsed from exhaustion, they never recovered. Some were mercifully euthanized by farmers. Within days, up to 6,000 sheep had perished.
Eight days later, a confidential Army report acknowledging the potential role of nerve agent tests was leaked to the press. While alternative explanations like pesticides were proposed, public fear grew, and journalists raised concerns about the impact of chemical and biological warfare experiments on humans. This incident directly influenced President Nixon’s push for an international ban on biological weapons the following year.
9. Porton Down Experiment - England
A research facility in Wiltshire, England, was established in 1916 to study mustard gas. By the end of World War II, the focus shifted to experiments involving nerve agents.
In 1953, Ronald Maddison, a 20-year-old Royal Air Force engineer, arrived at Porton Down to participate in what he thought was an experiment to find a cure for the common cold. He intended to use the 15 shillings he earned to purchase an engagement ring for his girlfriend. However, he was unknowingly used as a human test subject to study the effects of the nerve agent sarin. Shockingly, just two months prior, another volunteer had fallen into a coma, yet the trials proceeded.
Ronald Maddison was placed in a chamber wearing a respirator, and 200 milligrams of sarin were applied to his skin through two layers of fabric. He began sweating and lost his hearing. Within minutes, he convulsed on the floor, and a frothy substance resembling “frogspawn or tapioca” emerged from his mouth. After being rushed to the hospital, his entire body turned blue. Despite receiving oxygen, he struggled to breathe. Doctors attempted to revive him, even injecting adrenaline directly into his heart, but their efforts failed.
It was later disclosed that hundreds of volunteers were exposed to nerve agent experiments at Porton Down. In 2004, Ronald Maddison’s grieving family finally received some compensation following an official inquest.
8. Research Program Accident - Russia
The tale of Andrei Zheleznyakov, a Soviet chemical weapons researcher, demonstrates that surviving nerve agent exposure can be more harrowing than death itself. In 1987, while working at a research facility to develop the nerve agent Novichok, a vent malfunctioned in May, exposing him to a trace amount of Novichok-5.
Andrei Zheleznyakov instantly experienced visual disturbances, seeing red and yellow rings, along with a ringing in his ears and difficulty breathing. He was given tea and an antidote before being sent home. However, as he walked, dizziness overwhelmed him, leading to his hospitalization. His recovery was grueling, involving weeks in a coma and months of rehabilitation to regain his ability to walk.
For the next five years, this once energetic and innovative man suffered from severe health issues, including limb weakness, toxic hepatitis, epilepsy, and cognitive difficulties. By 1993, isolated and divorced, he suffered a fatal brain seizure during dinner.
7. Russian Banker and Secretary Murder - Russia
The 1995 deaths of Ivan Kivelidi, a prominent Russian bank president, and his secretary, Zara Ismailova, remain shrouded in mystery. Kivelidi, a vocal critic of the Russian mafia and economic corruption, had garnered many adversaries. Investigations later revealed that the deputy head of Kivelidi’s bank had acquired poison from an associate, which was used to kill him. This poison is now suspected to have been a substance similar to Novichok.
A cotton swab was used to apply a tiny amount of the deadly nerve agent under a rubber screw cap on Kivelidi’s telephone mouthpiece. Within two hours of starting work, he exhibited symptoms resembling a heart attack. He experienced severe organ failure, slipped into a coma, and passed away three days later. His secretary was hospitalized the next day with identical symptoms and also succumbed to the poison.
6. Kuala Lumpur Airport Murder - Malaysia
A strange and deadly attack involving the nerve agent VX occurred at Kuala Lumpur Airport, resulting in the death of Kim Jong Nam, the older half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Living in exile under an alias, Kim Jong Nam had long been estranged from his family and North Korea.
On February 13, 2017, two women approached Kim Jong Nam and sprayed his face with a lethal substance. He arrived at the airport’s medical clinic conscious but in severe distress. Initially, his blood pressure and pulse were elevated, but he soon suffered a seizure. His blood pressure and oxygen levels plummeted as his organs began to fail. He endured an agonizing death in an ambulance just 20 minutes after the attack.
The female assailants claimed they thought they were participating in a prank for a reality show. It was later revealed that the “producers” were linked to North Korea. Adding to the intrigue, Kim Jong Nam was carrying an antidote for the VX nerve agent in his bag on the day of his murder.
5. Amesbury Poisoning - England
The peaceful town of Amesbury, home to about 11,000 residents, became the focal point of Cold War-style intrigue when two locals were poisoned by Novichok. On June 30, 2018, Dawn Sturgess and her partner, Charlie Rowley, were hospitalized after falling ill at home. Initially suspected to be a drug overdose, their symptoms—such as sweating, seizures, foaming at the mouth, and pinpoint pupils—led to further investigation. Scientists at Porton Down confirmed Novichok poisoning. Tragically, Dawn Sturgess died eight days after being admitted.
Nearly four months earlier, Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy, and his daughter were poisoned by Novichok applied to his door handle in nearby Salisbury. A search of Charlie Rowley’s home revealed a small bottle containing the toxin. One theory suggests that the would-be assassin of Skripal carelessly discarded the bottle, which was later picked up by Dawn Sturgess or Charlie Rowley, leading to the tragedy.
4. Matsumoto and Subway Sarin Attacks - Japan
The Aum Shinrikyo cult orchestrated a failed yet lethal sarin attack targeting the homes of three Matsumoto judges in 1994. Cult leader Shoko Asahara, enraged by an unfavorable court ruling, aimed to test sarin’s effectiveness. Initially planning to target the courthouse, he shifted focus to the judges’ residences after finding the courthouse closed.
A modified refrigerator truck was driven into the judges’ neighborhood, releasing sarin. Victims experienced symptoms like headaches, nasal discharge, loss of bowel control, and blindness. The attack resulted in eight deaths and hundreds requiring medical treatment. The area was also strewn with the carcasses of dogs, birds, and other animals the following day.
Initially, a local resident was wrongly accused of the attack. A year later, attention turned to Aum Shinrikyo, which used insights from the Matsumoto incident to execute a devastating sarin attack on the Tokyo subway. Twelve people (some sources say 13) were killed, and thousands fell ill after cult members pierced bags of liquid sarin with sharpened umbrellas.
Initially, the subway car was filled with a pungent odor resembling paint thinner, followed by commuters coughing and sweating profusely. Some passengers began convulsing in their seats, while others had blood pouring from their mouths and eyes. Those who fled to the platforms or street level were seen collapsing, foaming at the mouth, and vomiting blood.
Tokyo’s emergency services were overwhelmed as police, military personnel, ambulances, and hospitals struggled to manage the crisis. Significant sections of the city’s famously efficient subway system were forced to shut down.
Shoko Asahara and six other cult members were executed on July 6, 2018, 23 years after the attack.
3. Halabja Chemical Attack - Iraq
The Kurdish population of Halabja endured lasting trauma from a chemical assault on March 16, 1988, near the end of the Iran-Iraq War. For five hours, chemical bombs laced with a deadly mix of mustard gas, tabun, sarin, and VX were unleashed. Survivors vividly remember the scent of apples, a characteristic odor of tabun. The majority of casualties were civilians, with approximately 5,000 dead and 10,000 injured.
Two days of conventional bombing preceded the attack, likely to ensure the gas could seep through shattered windows. After the bombs fell, victims experienced swollen eyes, labored breathing, and violent vomiting. Those fleeing in vehicles were forced to drive over corpses. Some survivors remained unconscious for days. The scene was horrific, with bodies twisted in grotesque poses, their clothing soaked in vomit and blood. Parents had futilely shielded their children from the gas.
Survivors faced lifelong health issues, including respiratory ailments, blindness, and nerve damage. For years, accidental exposure to residual mustard gas in basements caused additional deaths. In 2010, “Chemical” Ali Hassan al-Majid was executed after being convicted by the Iraqi High Tribunal for orchestrating the Halabja attack and other atrocities.
2. Civil War Attacks - Syria
In Syria, there have been frequent reports of nerve agent usage. Organizations like Doctors Without Borders and international hospitals have verified that symptoms and chemical traces in victims’ fluid samples align with nerve agent exposure. High-profile chemical attacks occurred in Ghouta in 2013 and 2018, but numerous smaller-scale assaults have caused hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries since the conflict began in 2012.
In 2017, over 80 people died and hundreds were injured when four bombs struck the town of Khan Sheikhoun early one morning. As emergency responders arrived to help, they too began collapsing. Victims exhibited symptoms like constricted pupils, convulsions, paralysis, breathing difficulties, foaming at the mouth, and blue-tinged skin. Survivors were taken to a local clinic, where they were decontaminated and administered a nerve agent antidote. Subsequent airstrikes destroyed the medical facility.
A haunting image from the attack shows Abdulhamid Yusuf, a young husband, cradling his deceased 11-month-old twins. After aiding other victims, he returned to find that toxic gases had infiltrated his bomb shelter, killing his wife and children. In total, he lost 19 family members.
1. Prison Site - Poland
In 1936, while developing a new pesticide, a German scientist created tabun, one of the earliest known nerve agents. Up to 12,000 metric tons of this substance were produced at the Dyhernfurth forced labor camp, 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Wroclaw, Poland. From 1943 until the end of World War II, hundreds died from tabun exposure, either through accidents or deliberate experiments. Witnesses described the victims’ deaths as resembling the frantic final movements of an ant sprayed with insecticide.
Prisoners at Dyhernfurth were compelled to manufacture the nerve agent and load it into bombs and shells. Sections of the facility were sealed with reinforced glass, and workers wore protective gear and respirators. However, tabun’s insidious nature meant exposure often went unnoticed until it was fatal. In one tragic event, four pipe fitters were drenched with tabun while cleaning pipes. They died convulsing before their protective suits could be removed.
Despite inmates perishing from exposure, starvation, exhaustion, and illness during tabun production, Hitler never deployed it. As Allied forces advanced, extensive measures were taken to erase all traces of tabun manufacturing. The facility was meticulously cleaned, and numerous workers were executed by German secret police to silence them. Despite these efforts, the production equipment was relocated to Russia, where nerve agent manufacturing resumed the following year.
