Victims show signs of exposure to ‘nerve agents’: WHO

The UN health agency said the deadly attack in Idlib province on Tuesday appeared to have involved chemical weapons, pointing to the “apparent lack of external injuries reported in cases showing a rapid onset of similar symptoms, including acute respiratory distress as the main cause of death.” 

“Some cases appear to show additional signs consistent with exposure to organophosphorus chemicals, a category of chemicals that includes nerve agents,” it said. WHO said there was good reason to suspect a chemical attack, noting the dozens of patients admitted to hospitals “suffering from breathing difficulties and suffocation.” 

“The images and reports coming from Idlib today leave me shocked, saddened and outraged,” Peter Salama, head of WHO’s health emergencies programme, said in a statement. 

“These types of weapons are banned by international law because they represent an intolerable barbarism,” he added. WHO warned that the capacity of hospitals in the surrounding area was limited and that many facilities had been damaged in the fighting. 

UN agency pointed out that the Ma’ara Hospital had been out of service since Sunday due to infrastructure damage, and that the Al Rahma Hospital was hit shortly after it began taking in patients from the suspected chemical attack and was forced to temporarily shut its doors. 

Emergency rooms in the area were overwhelmed, and many patients had been referred to southern Turkey, it said. As soon as word got out about the suspected chemical attack, WHO said it had begun dispatching medicines, including Atrophine, an antidote for some types of chemical exposure, and steroids for symptomatic treatment, from a warehouse in Idlib.