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The White House and the UK blamed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime for the attack that struck the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun while many were still asleep.

The strike, one of the deadliest of its kind since the Syrian war began six years ago, killed at least 70 people, including children.

Syria denied it used chemical weapons. Russia asserted the deaths resulted from a gas released when a regime airstrike hit a "terrorist" chemical weapons factory on the ground. But survivors being treated in a hospital on the Turkish side of the border told a CNN team they saw chemical bombs dropped from the air.

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 are investigating the origin of the agents used in the strike.

Key developments

Chemical weapons expert: Russia's explanation of events is "highly implausible."

US President Donald Trump said the attack changed his views on Syria and Assad.

Medical experts said the attack was likely the result of a nerve agent, such as sarin gas.

The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting but didn't vote on a resolution.

War of words

Trump called the attack on innocent civilians an "affront to humanity," saying it had changed his views on Syria and Assad. "These heinous actions by the Assad regime cannot be tolerated," Trump said.

"It crossed a lot of lines for me. When you kill innocent children, innocent babies ... with a chemical gas that is so lethal that people were shocked to hear what gas it was, that crosses many, many lines -- beyond a red line."

The Russian Defense Ministry said on its Facebook page that a Syrian airstrike hit "workshops, which produced chemical warfare munitions" on the eastern outskirts of Khan Sheikhoun. It said "terrorists" had been transporting the chemical munitions from their largest arsenal to Iraq.

"Nerve agents are the result of a very expensive, exotic, industrial chemical process -- these are not something you just whip up," saidKaszeta, managing director of Strongpoint Security, a security consulting firm based in London.

"It's much more plausible that Assad, who's used nerve agents in the past, is using them again."

Hours after the attack, several people were injured when an airstrike hit near a hospital in the same town. Survivors of the earlier attack were being treated there, the Aleppo Media Center activist group reported.

The hospital was knocked out of service, said the Syrian Civil Defense rescue group, known as the White Helmets.

Victim: 'I don't know if my family is dead or alive'

Mazin Yusif, a 13-year-old-boy, broke down in tears at the Reyhanli Hospital in southern Turkey near the Syrian border. About 25 survivors of Tuesday's attack are being treated there, and several said they saw a plane drop chemical bombs.

"At 6:30 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," Mazin told CNN.

He said he ran toward his 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."

The boy's grandmother, Aisha al-Tilawi, 55, said she saw blue and yellow after the plane dropped a 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.

Another survivor, Ahmed Abdel Rahim, 31, stared vacantly from his hospital bed while explaining 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

WHO said some victims showed symptoms consistent with exposure to a category of chemicals that includes nerve agents. That conclusion was supported by Amnesty International, which said victims were "very likely" to have been exposed to a compound such as sarin.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said it was gathering evidence about the attack.

Speaking at a high-level meeting in Belgium on the future of Syria, UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson blamed the Syrian regime.

"All the evidence I have seen suggests that it was the Assad regime who did it, in full knowledge they were using illegal weapons in a barbaric attack on their own people," Johnson said.

Assad's military has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons and consistently blames "terrorist" groups when chemical attacks are reported.

But many of these are delivered through airstrikes,and no rebel or terrorist group in Syria is believed to have the capacity to carry out aerial bombardments.

A UN investigation in August found that chemical weapons had been used in Syria, both by the national air force and ISIS militants. It found two instances where regime forces had used chlorine as a chemical weapon, and one where ISIS had used mustard gas between 2014 and 2015.

The Syrian Coalition, an umbrella opposition group, compared this week's chemical attack to one in 2013 in eastern Ghouta "that the international community allowed to pass without accountability or punishment."

A UN report found that sarin had been used on civilians in the earlier attack that activists said killed about 1,400 people.

UN emergency meeting takes no action

At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, Nikki Haley, the US ambassador, held up photographs of children foaming at the mouth as evidence of the attack.

"If Russia has the influence in Syria that it claims to have, we need to see them use it," said Haley, who is the council president. "We need to see them put an end to these horrific acts. How many more children have to die before Russia cares?"

Haley hinted that the United States was open to using military action in response. "When the UN consistently fails in its duty to act collectively, there are times in the life of states that we are compelled to take our own action," she said.

Russia, Syria's most powerful ally, made clear it would not support a resolution put forward by the United States, the UK and France condemning the use of chemical weapons within Syria and requiring the regime to provide flight logs from the day of the attack.

Russia has used its veto power as a permanent member of the Security Council at least seven times on Syrian resolutions.

On Wednesday afternoon, Security Council members left closed consultations without taking a vote on the draft resolution. No member spoke as they left the chambers.

Syria's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Mounzer Mounzer, flatly denied accusations his government is responsible, blaming "terrorist groups" for the dozens of deaths.

"Syria also reaffirms that the Syrian Arab Army does not have any form or type of chemical weapons," he said. "We have never used them, and we will never use them."

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syria attack survivors describe chemical bombs falling from sky  - cnn

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Angela Dewan, Kareem Khadder and Holly Yan, CNN

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Survivors of Syrian attack describe chemical bombs falling from sky

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The White House and the UK blamed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime for the attack that struck the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun while many were still asleep. The strike, one of the deadliest of its kind since the Syrian war began six years ago, killed at least 70 people, including children.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNIHLJoOEgw

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Six people died, including the attacker, and at least 50 people were injured after a terror attack near the Houses of Parliament on 22 March. This is what we know about what happened that day.

What happened?

The attack lasted 82 seconds.

It began at 14:40 GMT when Khalid Masood drove a car - hired from a depot in Birmingham - over Westminster Bridge, near the Houses of Parliament.

One witness said he sped up, mounted the pavement, and began hitting pedestrians indiscriminately.

Police believe Masood was driving at up to 76mph.
82-second attack

14:40:08 - Masood's car mounts pavement on Westminster Bridge and hits pedestrians

14:40:38 - Masood crashes into perimeter fence of Palace of Westminster

14:40:59 - First 999 call made to Met police

14:41:30 - Masood leaves vehicle, runs towards Parliament, and is shot dead

The car then crashed into railings outside the Palace of Westminster.

Masood, armed with a knife, left his car and ran towards Parliament, where he was confronted by police.

PC Keith Palmer - who was wearing a protective vest but was not armed - was stabbed and killed. Masood was then shot dead by armed officers.

Reports that he was shot by a member of Defence Secretary Michael Fallon's close protection team - rather than one of Parliament's armed police - have not been confirmed.

Along with PC Palmer, Aysha Frade, a British national, and US tourist Kurt Cochran, were killed in the attack.

A 75-year-old man, Leslie Rhodes from Clapham in south London, died from his injuries the next day and Romanian Andreea Cristea, who fell from Westminster Bridge into the River Thames, died more than two weeks later.
'We saw a policeman down on the floor' The heroes who rushed to help
Who was the attacker?

Khalid Masood, 52, was born in Kent on Christmas Day 1964. Before the March attack he was believed to have been living in the West Midlands.

He had a criminal past but his most recent conviction, for possessing a knife, was in December 2003. He had never been convicted of a terrorism offence.

Prime Minister Theresa May told MPs that while Masood had been "once investigated in relation to concerns about violent extremism" he was a "peripheral figure" and "not part of the current intelligence picture".

After his birth, Masood was registered in the Dartford district of Kent, but his name was given as Adrian Russell Elms.

Two years later, his mother married a man with the name Ajao and, as a child, Masood was known as Adrian Russell Ajao. He later used both Ajao and Elms until he converted to Islam and became Masood.

Masood spent a number of years working in Saudi Arabia teaching English as a second language at the General Authority of Civil Aviation in the port city of Jeddah, the BBC understands.

He gave his occupation as "teacher" when hiring the car he used to carry out the attack.

However, the Department for Education said it had no record of him having worked as a qualified teacher in English state schools.

Masood is believed to have had at least three children.
Profile of Khalid Masood
Who were the victims?

The police officer who died was PC Keith Palmer, 48, of the parliamentary and diplomatic protection command. He had 15 years' service, was married, and had a five-year-old daughter. He had served in the Royal Artillery before joining the police.

Aysha Frade, who worked in administration at DLD College London, was killed after being hit by the attacker's car before it reached Parliament.

She was 44 and a married mother of two young daughters.

The third victim was Kurt Cochran, 54, from Utah, who was in London to celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary. His wife Melissa was seriously injured but is said by her family to be "steadily improving".

Leslie Rhodes, 75, a retired window cleaner, had been receiving medical treatment in hospital following the attack. His life support was withdrawn on 23 March.

Romanian Andreea Cristea, who was on holiday with boyfriend Andrei Burnaz, died on 6 April as a result of her injuries. She had been in hospital since the attack.

Her family said in a statement: "After fighting for her life for over two weeks, our beloved and irreplaceable Andreea - wonderful daughter, sister, partner, dedicated friend and the most unique and life loving person you can imagine - was cruelly and brutally ripped away from our lives in the most heartless and spiritless way.

"She will always be remembered as our shining ray of light that will forever keep on shining in our hearts."
What we know about the victims
Who are the injured?

At least 50 people from at least 12 countries were injured in the attack, 31 of whom needed hospital treatment.

Among those injured were three police officers who had been walking across Westminster Bridge on their way back from a commendation ceremony.

One of the two officers recovering in hospital has been named as PC Kristofer Aves. He is one of two described as having "very significant" injuries.

Acting Deputy Commissioner Mark Rowley said the victims represented "a real cross-section of ages". As well as Britons, there were people from France, South Korea, Greece, Germany, Poland, the Irish Republic, China, Italy and the US.

Among others injured were four university students from Edge Hill University, in Ormskirk, Lancashire.
London attack: The victims
What do we know about the police investigation?

Seven men and five women aged between 21 and 58 were arrested in London, Birmingham and Manchester under the Terrorism Act - but all have now been released with no further action.

Acting Deputy Commissioner Mark Rowley said 2,700 items had been seized, including "massive amounts" of computer data.

Masood's phone is understood to have connected with WhatsApp two minutes before the attack, but the messaging app's encryption system means police may not know what if anything was communicated.

The Hyundai driven by Masood had been hired in Spring Hill, Birmingham, from a branch of Enterprise.

Police have been contacted by about 3,500 witnesses - 1,000 who were on Westminster Bridge and 2,500 who were within the Parliamentary estate at the time.

Hundreds of videos and pictures have been uploaded to the NPCC website, Mr Rowley added.

On 25 March, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said detectives believed Masood had acted alone and that there was no information or intelligence to suggest further attacks were planned.

"There is a possibility we will never understand why he did this," he added.

He said that while Masood "clearly had an interest in jihad", police had so far found no evidence of an association with the so-called Islamic State group or al-Qaeda.

What security has been put in place?

In London, the number of armed officers remains at "near double strength", Mr Rowley said, while across the UK there are "up to a third" more armed officers on duty.

He added: "Our current arrangements have been developed with Parliament over many years and are designed to provide access to the seat of our government, balanced carefully with security that is proportionate but not overly intrusive.

"Of course, after an incident like this, as would be expected, my team will work with parliamentary authorities to assess whether a different tone or balance is necessary."

The UK's terror threat level has been set at "severe" - meaning an attack is highly likely - for some time and this would not change, the prime minister said.

Commons Speaker John Bercow has announced that two reviews are to be held, examining security and Parliament's response to the incidents.
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Six people died, including the attacker, and at least 50 people were injured after a terror attack near the Houses of Parliament on 22 March. This is what we know about what happened that day. The attack lasted 82 seconds.