Despairing Syrians search Assad’s notorious Saydnaya prison for signs of loved ones

Families desperately scoured the filthy cells of Syria’s Saydnaya prison on Monday (9 December) for any sign of their long-detained loved ones after its gates were flung open by rebels following the downfall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Thousands of prisoners spilled out of Assad’s detention system after he was toppled on Sunday.

There were tearful reunions with relatives who believed their family members had been executed years earlier.

However, other families have been trawling dark corridors and hidden cells in the complex for a trace of those detained for attending protests, defying authorities or voicing discontent.