One dead as children 'gasp for air' after 'chlorine gas' attack in Syria

  • Video report by ITV News International Affairs Editor Rageh Omaar

  • Warning: Some viewers may find the content of this report upsetting

Syria's government has been accused of using chlorine gas in an attack on the rebel-held city of Aleppo, which has claimed the life of at least one man.

Witnesses living in the al-Sukkari district claimed the barrel bomb attack reportedly left at least 120 people with burns and breathing difficulties - more than a third of them children.

Mohammad Abdulkareem Afefa, 29, was killed in the attack, ITV News has been told.

Images released showed victims, including several children, in severe distress while being treated for various injuries.

Local professor Abdulkafi Alhamdo, who has been updating ITV News on the situation in Aleppo, visited the scene shortly after the attack.

He described a "strong smell" left behind and filmed a crater in the road along with some unidentifiable white powder.

One hospital claimed to have treated 71 people after the bombing - 37 of them were children.

The pictures and the reports of the use of chemical weapons could not be independently verified.

The Syrian regime and opposing forces have been accused of using chemical weapons several times before and the UN is investigating the claims including a previous alleged attack in August which killed four people and injured 65 others.