The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons says it has opened an investigation over the weekend's suspected poison gas attack in Syria.
The organization's director general, Ahmet Uzumcu, has expressed "grave concern in response to the alleged chemical weapons attack" over the weekend in the town of Douma, near the capital, Damascus.
A statement by the agency said the OPCW has been closely monitoring the incident and made a preliminary analysis of the reports of the alleged use of chemical weapons immediately after they were issued.
Monday's statement said a fact-finding mission is in the process of gathering further information from all available sources to establish whether chemical weapons were used.
The OPCW is the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which was signed by 192 states. Syria signed on to the convention in 2013.
A Syrian opposition activist based in the town of Douma says most of those killed in the poison gas attack over the weekend have been buried.
Haitham Bakkar said Monday that the attack was focused on three neighborhoods in the town as well as a front line with the nearby village of Rihan, where several opposition fighters were killed.
He said the chemical agent was delivered in a barrel dropped from a helicopter and a missile fired by a warplane.
Opposition activists and rescuers say at least 40 people were killed, including families found in their homes and shelters.
The Syrian government and its ally Russia have dismissed the reports as fabrications.
AP
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