Article content

Warning: Graphic images and content

BEIRUT — The men, women and children lying undisturbed in their beds had looked so peaceful they might have been just sleeping, Abu Nidal thought, as he and other rescuers dragged their bodies into the street.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Syrians retrieve 'sleeping' dead after alleged chemical attack kills more than 500 people, including scores of children Back to video

His was one of many accounts of a massive assault on the eastern suburbs of Damascus that activists say killed more than 500 people on Wednesday morning. They say some of the bombs were loaded with chemical agent, which would make it the worst chemical attack since Syria’s two-year conflict began.

“We would go into a house and everything was in its place, every person was in their place. They were lying where they had been. They looked like they were asleep. But they were dead,” he told Reuters by Skype from the suburb of Erbin.

Some first responders found it surprising that either President Bashar al-Assad’s forces or the rebels trying to topple him would carry out such an attack just days after a United Nations team arrived in the capital to inspect previous reports of chemical weapons use.