Turkey opens borders to aid Syrian victims of chemical gas attack

Turkey opened its Bab Al-Hawa border crossing with Syria yesterday to receive victims of the chemical gas attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun in the opposition-held province of Idlib.

An official source at the border crossing said the Turkish authorities have opened the crossing for ambulances and private cars transporting people suffering from suffocation due to the chemical gas attacks on the town of Khan Sheikhoun, adding that 70 victims had already crossed to hospitals in Hatay province in southeastern Turkey.

The source added that the Turkish authorities had completely stopped trade at the crossing to make way for ambulances.

Read: UK PM calls for investigation into reported Syria chemical attack

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan assured his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that it would be impossible to accept brutal attacks like the chemical attack on civilians this morning in Syria.

Image of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan [Presidency of Turkey / Yasin Bülbül/Anadolu Agency]

The two sides stressed on the need to make a joint effort to maintain the fragile ceasefire agreement in Syria, instituted last December, as well as to strengthen cooperation in the fight against terrorism.

Nearly 100 people have been killed and more than 400 were injured, mostly women and children in the attack.