DESCRIPTION:
Russian claims that a regime airstrike on a "terrorist" ammunition depot caused the deaths of at least 70 people in northern Syria have been rejected, as victims described the aftermath of chemical bombs dropped from planes.
International condemnation mounted on Wednesday over what appeared to be a targeted chemical attack on a rebel-held town in Idlib province, one of the deadliest since the Syrian war began six years ago.
The White House and the UK blamed the regime of President Bashar al-Assad for the outrage, which caused the deaths of at least 10 children, some asleep in their beds when the attack struck at dawn. At the United Nations, western powers lambasted Russia for standing by the Assad regime.
The World Health Organization said victims bore the signs of exposure to nerve agents, and Amnesty International said evidence pointed to an "air-launched chemical attack." International agencies were working to establish the provenance of the agents used in the strike.
Russia claimed the deaths were caused by gas released when a regime airstrike hit a chemical weapons factory on the ground. But victims being treated in a hospital on the Turkish side of the border told a CNN team they saw chemical bombs being dropped from planes.
Key developments
Dozens of victims have been taken to Turkey for treatment.
The attack coincided with a two-day meeting in Brussels on Syria's future.
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson calls attack a 'barbaric act.'
Medical experts and US say attack likely result of a nerve agent, like sarin gas.
UN Security Council holds emergency meeting.
A child receives treatment at a hospital after a suspected chemical attack on Tuesday.
A child receives treatment at a hospital after a suspected chemical attack on Tuesday.
The Russian defense ministry claimed on its Facebook page that a Syrian airstrike hit "workshops, which produced chemical warfare munitions" in the eastern outskirts of Khan Sheikhoun.
It said that "terrorists" had been transporting the chemical munitions from its largest arsenal to Iraq.
What we know about Syria's chemical weapons
What we know about Syria's chemical weapons
But a chemical weapons expert, Col. Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, told BBC Radio 4 that all signs showed the chemical used was sarin gas and that Russia's versions of events was "completely unsustainable."
"I think this is pretty fanciful and no doubt the Russians trying to protect their allies. Axiomatically, if you blow up sarin, you destroy it," he said.
Hours after the attack, several people were injured when an airstrike hit near a hospital in the same town, where victims from the earlier attack were being treated, the Aleppo Media Center activist group reported.
The Syrian Civil Defense rescue group, known as the White Helmets, said the hospital was knocked out of service.
Victim: 'I don't know if my family is dead or alive'
Around 25 victims of the attack were being treated Wednesday at the Reyhanli Hospital in southern Turkey near the Syrian border. Several said that they saw a plane drop chemical bombs.
Mazin Yusif, a 13-year-old-boy, broke down in tears as he spoke of what happened.
Mazin Yusif, 13, tells CNN his harrowing story of being caught up in the apparent chemical attack.
Mazin Yusif, 13, tells CNN his harrowing story of being caught up in the apparent chemical attack.
"At six thirty in the morning, the plane struck. I ran up on our roof and saw that the strike was in front of my grandfather's house," he told CNN at the hospital.
He said he ran toward the house and found his grandfather slumped over. He ran outside to call for help. "I got dizzy and then fainted in front of my grandfather's garage. I next found myself here in this hospital, naked in a bed."
Aisha al-Tilawi, 55, says she lost three members of her family in Tuesday's attack.
Aisha al-Tilawi, 55, says she lost three members of her family in Tuesday's attack.
The boy's grandmother, 55-year-old Aisha al-Tilawi, said she saw blue and yellow after the plane dropped the chemical-laden bomb.
"We started choking, felt dizzy, then fainted. Mazin was trying to wake up his grandfather. Three of my family died," she said, lying in bed with an oxygen mask on her face.
Ahmed Abdel Rahim, 31, has no idea where his family is now.
Ahmed Abdel Rahim, 31, has no idea where his family is now.
Another victim, 31-year-old Ahmed Abdel Rahim, stared vacantly from his hospital bed as he explained he was hit with a poisonous substance carried by three rockets.
"I was in my house. I had difficulty breathing, but I feel better now. But I did throw up after getting to the hospital. I don't know if my family is dead or alive. I don't know anything," he said.
Worldwide condemnation