Using only the light on their mobile phones, wailing men and women examined disfigured bodies lying in a darkened hospital morgue in Syria's capital for signs of their relatives who had disappeared into Bashar al-Assad's notorious prison system, Reuters reported. Dozens of corpses - blackened, decomposing and missing limbs or heads - were found overnight by rescuers digging for hidden cells at Sednaya, a prison north of Damascus, where rights groups said torture and mass executions had been common, Reuters said.
In photos: Syrians desperately search for missing relatives in notorious prison
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People look at bodies, believed to be of prisoners from Sednaya prison, according to forensic official Zaher al-Taqesh, at the Al Mojtahed hospital in Damascus, Syria, Dec. 10, 2024.
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People look at bodies, believed to be of prisoners from Sednaya prison, according to forensic official Zaher al-Taqesh, at the Al Mojtahed hospital in Damascus, Syria, Dec. 10, 2024.
People look at bodies, believed to be of prisoners from Sednaya prison, according to forensic official Zaher al-Taqesh, at the Al Mojtahed hospital in Damascus, Syria, Dec. 10, 2024.
This image contains sensitive content which some people may find offensive or disturbing.
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People check photos as they search for missing or deceased people on the wall outside the morgue of Al-Mojtahed Hospital in Damascus, Syria, Dec. 11, 2024.
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People check photos as they search for missing or deceased people on the wall outside the morgue of Al-Mojtahed Hospital in Damascus, Syria, Dec. 11, 2024.
People check photos as they search for missing or deceased people on the wall outside the morgue of Al-Mojtahed Hospital in Damascus, Syria, Dec. 11, 2024.
This image contains sensitive content which some people may find offensive or disturbing.
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Hilala Meryeh, a 64-year-old Palestinian mother of four, weeps in the middle of the dingy identification room after finding her son's body at the Al-Mojtahed Hospital morgue in Damascus, Syria, Dec. 11, 2024.
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Hilala Meryeh, a 64-year-old Palestinian mother of four, weeps in the middle of the dingy identification room after finding her son's body at the Al-Mojtahed Hospital morgue in Damascus, Syria, Dec. 11, 2024.
Hilala Meryeh, a 64-year-old Palestinian mother of four, weeps in the middle of the dingy identification room after finding her son's body at the Al-Mojtahed Hospital morgue in Damascus, Syria, Dec. 11, 2024.
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Men carry a body, believed to be of a prisoner from Sednaya prison, according to forensic official Zaher al-Taqesh, at the Al Mojtahed hospital in Damascus, Dec. 10, 2024.
