A team of experts from the global chemical weapons watchdog has been sent to Turkey to collect samples as part of an investigation into an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria last week that killed 87 people, Reuters reports.

The fact finding mission was sent from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague to gather bio-metric samples and interview survivors, sources told Reuters on Thursday, April 13.

The chemical attack in northwestern Syria killed scores of civilians, with activists blaming the attack on the Syrian regime.

President Bashar al-Assad has denied the allegations.