Sarin Gas: the highly toxic chemical weapon that can kill people in minutes

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THE nerve agent sarin is believed to have been used in the Assad government’s alleged chemical weapons attack on Douma.

It's claimed a helicopter dropped a huge barrel bomb containing the toxin on the Syrian town - leaving 70 dead and hundreds injured. But it's not the first time the nerve agent has been used in warfare - here's what we know…

Sarin is a colourless and odourless agent that was outlawed as of April 1997 by the Chemical Weapons Convention.

It attacks the nervous system and causes incredibly painful and uncontrollable muscle contractions that make it impossible to breath, leading to death by asphyxiation.

In its purest form, sarin is estimated to be 26 times deadlier than cyanide.

Symptoms following exposure to sarin include a runny nose, tightness in the chest and constriction of the pupils.

Victims then continue to lose control of bodily functions and begin drooling, urinating, vomiting and defecating.

Muscle spasms then make breathing incredibly difficult before the victim becomes comatose and suffocates.

Antidotes like atropine and pralidoxime can help stop the deadly muscle convulsions if administered quickly after exposure.

In March 2018 former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned in Salisbury, Wiltshire.

Counter-terror police believe the pair were "targeted specifically" when they were dosed with an unidentified nerve agent.

By Neal Baker