United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu, speaks during a Security Council meeting on Syria at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, May 23, 2017. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The new U.N. disarmament chief says a team from the international chemical weapons watchdog found exposure “to sarin or a sarin-like substance” in samples from an attack on April 4 in northern Syria that killed over 90 people and now wants to visit the town of Khan Sheikhoun.

Izumi Nakamitsu told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday, May 23, that the fact-finding team received samples from dead animals reported to have been close to the site of the incident in the opposition-controlled town as well as environmental samples.

She said the team also witnessed three autopsies of alleged victims and the extraction of bio-medical samples from their bodies.

The Syrian government has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons and so has its close ally Russia, which has also carried out aerial attacks.