At least 41 civilians were on Saturday being treated following a suspected poison gas attack by Syrian rebel groups on government-held Aleppo in the country’s north, Syrian state media said.
Syrian state TV previously said that 21 people had been injured, but people continued to arrive at a hospital in Aleppo where state TV was airing live.
Doctors told state TV that most of those admitted to hospitals suffered from breathing problems and blurred vision.
One doctor said that two were in critical condition, including a child.
State TV showed footage of medical professionals treating men and women on hospital beds.
Rami Abdurrahman, the head of Britain-based non-governmental organization the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that there was a stench of gas in Aleppo after projectiles were fired.
Syrian rebels have dismissed government accusations that they used poison gas to attack Aleppo.
Rebel commander Abdel-Salam Abdel-Razak said that the opposition did not possess poisonous gases or the capabilities to lob them.
Abdel-Razak served in Syria’s chemical weapons program before defecting to join the opposition in the early years of the conflict, which began in 2011.
“These are lies,” Abdel-Razak tweeted soon after reports emerged of an attack in Aleppo that injured dozens of people.
Rebel spokesman Mustafa Sejari dismissed the poison-gas claims, saying that they came after government shells landed in rebel-held areas, violating a Russian-backed ceasefire.
The government is trying to undermine the ceasefire, Sejardi said.
Aleppo police chief Essam al-Shali told state TV that the projectiles landed in the al-Khalidiya neighborhood and wind conditions caused the gas to spread.
State TV later said that the gas affected two other areas in the city.
There were no deaths, al-Shali said.
Aleppo Governor Hussein Diab visited the injured at the hospital.
He told state TV that a total of 41 people had been admitted and accused rebels of using poisonous gas in the missiles they lobbed at the Aleppo neighborhood.
An unnamed doctor told the same outlet that a poisonous gas was believed to have been used, but tests were needed to determine what kind.
Earlier, state media said it was believed to be chlorine.
One patient said that a foul smell had filled the air after projectiles were lobbed.
“There are often missiles on the city, but this is the first time we smelled such a smell,” the patient said, without giving his name.
Aleppo has come under rebel attack over the past few weeks, with missiles falling inside the city. The government has responded with counterattacks on rebel-held areas in the countryside surrounding the city.
In the absence of independent monitors, it is difficult to corroborate gas attacks, but both sides of the conflict have accused each other throughout the war of using poison gas.
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