Reyhanli: As many as 36 children were on Tuesday night reported to have died excruciating deaths after receiving tainted measles vaccines under a United Nations-sponsored program in the rebel-held north of Syria.

The program was suspended amid rumours of sabotage surrounding the high-profile international effort to ensure the civil war does not result in an outbreak of measles.

A child in Syria where sabotage is feared surrounding an international effort to prevent a measles outbreak. Credit:Reuters

Doctors in clinics in the towns of Jirjanaz and Maaret al-Nouman in the north-eastern province of Idlib said children started falling ill soon after the doses were administered.

Relief organisations just over the border in Turkey said the loss of life was extensive, rising as high as 36, with more than a dozen other children in a serious condition.