CNN Airs Graphic Footage of Immediate Aftermath of Chemical Attack in Syria

CNN’s The Lead on Tuesday aired graphic video of the victims of the April 2017 chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun, Syria that killed over 90 people, including many children.

Correspondent Clarissa Ward filed the report with the newly-aired footage, which, in her words, offered “an unvarnished, unsanitized, up-close look at the horror of a war crime — which is why we felt it is so important to show.”

Ward described how one of the individuals who recorded the aftermath found “people…foaming at the mouth — convulsions racking their bodies — as rescue workers try in vain to wash away the chemicals.”

Some of the video footage showed children dead or dying in the back of pickup truck after the attack, along with other victims being taken for treatment to an underground clinic.

Of course, while Western countries blamed Bashar al-Assad‘s regime for the attack, the Syrian leader denied that the attack even took place — labeling the claims “one hundred percent fabrication.”

President Donald Trump ordered a missile attack on an Assad regime air field just three days after the chemical attack.

The correspondent also filed a written report on Tuesday for CNN.com about the video:

…[T]here is something particularly horrifying about the images in Khan Sheikhoun, something uniquely haunting about watching the last gasps of innocent people. Chemical weapons have been outlawed since the end of World War One. They are barbaric and inhuman, a “red line” that should never be crossed. They also make no distinction between soldiers and children.

Editors’ note: We have chosen not to embed the graphic video of CNN’s report. If you want to see it for yourself, you can watch on CNN’s website here.

[image via screengrab]