Syrians search Saydnaya prison for underground cells as freed Assad detainees rejoice
Powerful images have emerged showing Syrians, including women and children, being freed from prisons across the country after the toppling of President Bashar al-Assad.
Syrians on Monday celebrated the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad, as thousands of detainees were freed from his notorious jails while families and rescuers searched for those still missing.
Powerful images have emerged showing people, including women and children, being freed from prisons across the country after the toppling of Assad, whose brutal regime saw hundreds of thousands of political prisoners disappear into jails where many faced torture and death.
While Assad was in Moscow having fled the country, one facility known as the “human slaughterhouse” was being searched for signs of secret underground cells.
Men in one video verified by NBC News could be seen cheering as they were released by fighters who shot the lock off the doors then entered Saydnaya prison near Damascus, in the hours after rebel forces captured the Syrian capital.
In another video, a little boy appeared to be be seen toddling out of a cell as women around him rejoiced, with some expressing confusion after being told they'd been freed and asking for their belongings and their identification cards.
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