Outrage as Syria chemical gas attack kills dozens in rebel-held town

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/04/outrage-as-syria-chemical-gas-attack-kills-dozens-in-rebel-held-town/

A suspected chemical attack killed at least 58 civilians in rebel-held northwestern Syria on Tuesday, a monitor said, prompting widespread outrage and calls for international action.

The attack in the town of Khan Sheikhun also left dozens suffering respiratory problems and symptoms including vomiting, fainting and foaming at the mouth, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Hours later, air strikes hit a hospital in the town where doctors were treating victims of the attack, an AFP correspondent said, bringing down rubble on top of medics as they worked.

The incident brought swift international condemnation, with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault demanding an emergency UN Security Council meeting on the “monstrous” attack.

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The Observatory said the attack on a residential part of Khan Sheikhun came in the early hours of Tuesday morning, when a warplane carried out strikes that released “toxic gas”.

It said 11 children were among the dead, with at least 160 injured, and that many people were dying even after arriving at medical facilities.

The monitor could not confirm the nature of the gas, and said the strike was likely carried out by government warplanes.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-idlib-idUSKBN1760IB

A suspected Syrian government chemical attack killed at least 58 people, including 11 children, in the northwestern province of Idlib on Tuesday, a monitor, medics and rescue workers in the rebel-held area said.

A Syrian military source strongly denied the army had used any such weapons.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack, believed to have been carried out by Syrian army jets, caused many people to choke, and some had foam coming out of their mouths. All the children were under the age of eight.

"This morning, at 6:30 a.m., warplanes targeted Khan Sheikhoun with gases, believed to be sarin and chlorine," said Mounzer Khalil, head of Idlib's health authority. The attack had killed more than 50 people and wounded 300, he said.

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