After Syria sarin attack, doctors train to treat chemical weapons victims

Syrian medical staff take part in a training exercise to learn how to treat victims of chemical weapons attacks, in a course organized by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Gaziantep, Turkey, July 20, 2017. Picture taken July 20, 2017. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

GAZIANTEP, Turkey (Reuters) - Wearing chemical suits and gasmasks, Syrian doctors rush to a house where white smoke wafts over a group of people choking and coughing, some calling out for help.

It is a training exercise but the scenario is all too real for many of the doctors, who treated victims of a chemical attack three months ago and suffered symptoms themselves after being contaminated by a deadly nerve agent.