BEIRUT — Weapons inspectors entered the Syrian city of Douma on Saturday, a global watchdog said, following a suspected poison gas attack which killed at least 43 people and prompted U.S.-led military action against Syrian military facilities.
After a week of delays, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said that it had visited one of two alleged blast sites in the city to collect samples to be sent for tests in the Netherlands.
“The OPCW will evaluate the situation and consider future steps including another possible visit to Douma,” the organization said in a statement.
Residents and doctors present on the night of the April 7 attack said the air had filled with the smell of chlorine. Video footage and eyewitness testimonies suggest that some of the victims died foaming at the mouth, a symptom that could indicate exposure to a nerve agent.
But rather than be allowed to head straight for the site, the OPCW team sat in Damascus for much of the past week, leading the United States and France to accuse Syria and its Russian allies of attempting to delay the inspection as they sanitized the alleged blast sites.
Read more:
Chemical weapons coverup suspected in Syria
Days after suspected chemical attack, Douma under full Assad control
“They’ve just dropped dead”: Nerve agent suspected in attack
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