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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Members of the Syrian civil defense group, known as the White Helmets, search for prisoners at Sednaya prison, with rebel fighters around, in Sednaya, Dec.9, 2024.
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People with relatives who were imprisoned wait outside the infamous Saydnaya military prison, just north of Damascus, Syria, Dec. 9, 2024.
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People search through papers as they join members of the Syrian civil defense group, known as the White Helmets, to search for prisoners underground at Sednaya prison, in Sednaya, Dec. 9, 2024.
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People gather as members of the Syrian civil defense group, known as the White Helmets, search for prisoners underground at Sednaya prison in Sednaya, Dec. 9, 2024.
