The Chemical Weapons Detectives
Meet the scientists who trace the world's most notorious acts of war back to labs in which they were made.
By Bryan Gardiner December 18, 2018
The first bomb landed shortly after sunrise on April 4, 2017, in Khan Shaykhun. Unlike the three that would explode Âmoments later in other parts of the rebel-Âcontrolled ÂSyrian town, this one produced Âlittle noise and even less physical Âdamage, leaving behind a jagged 5-foot-wide-by-20-inch-deep crater in an otherwise empty road. ÂMinutes earlier, a group of volunteer rescue workers in town had received an ominous alert: Spotters had observed a Syrian Armed Forces bomber taking off from Shayrat airbase 68 miles away, and it was likely carrying a chemical payload. “Guys, tell people to wear masks,†the voice on the other end of the walkie-​Âtalkie implored.
Most of the town’s 16,000 residents were in bed or getting ready for work when a milky-white cloud began to spread near the bombed-out bakery and grain silos shortly after 6:30 a.m. The first people on the scene arrived to find bodies lying on the ground outside and in homes, with no signs of blunt trauma. Some had bluish lips and were convulsing. Others foamed from the mouth and nose. Nearly all of them had pinpoint pupils.
https://www.popsci.com/chemical-weapons-detectives
