DEEP BELOW
Race to save prisoners trapped in Assad’s ‘human slaughterhouse‘ dungeons with fears inmates could suffocate in cells
More than 100,000 prisoners are thought to be still trapped
EMERGENCY crews are rushing to a Syrian hellhole jail amid fears prisoners locked up in underground cells could soon choke to death.
The barbaric Sednaya Military Prison - headed up by ousted dictator Bashar Al-Assad - has long been dubbed a "human slaughterhouse" after years of torture, abuse and executions inside.
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Rebels have been terrorising the streets of Syria for days and finally managed to overthrow the Syrian tyrant over the weekend.
Since forcing Assad to flee to his pals in Moscow the rebels have continued their operations across the nation.
One of the first moves was to open up the gates to a number of prisons containing inmates who had been allegedly left fighting for their lives behind bars due to the unlawful Assad government.
The biggest prison liberation has seen thousands released from the harrowing Sednaya Military Prison.
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Footage shows rebels storming into the compound and breaking open cell doors as thankful inmates flood out.
Many prisoners are still believed to be trapped in secret underground cells set up by Assad and his cronies, however.
More than "100,000 detainees" can be seen on CCTV still inside the prison, according to the Damascus Countryside Governorate.
Video from the rebels appears to show forces desperately trying to break through walls and the concrete floor in Sednaya in search of the men and women.
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They say that electronic underground doors lead to dark bunkers filled with prisoners somewhere in the sprawling complex.
Authorities in Damascus have been leading the efforts to access the secret cells but fear some could be "almost choking to death" from a lack of ventilation.
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They are also struggling to break through the electronic doors which are all locked shut and require a passcode to access.
Syrian civil defence group, the White Helmets, are leading the investigations.
They have deployed five "specialised emergency teams" to help find and break through the underground cells.
The White Helmets are also offering a $3,000 (£2,300) reward for any information from the public which may help discover the trapped prisoners.
Footage shows groups of specialists and rebels all drilling holes into the ground and smashing at walls with hammers trying to break through the cement.
Others have spent hours walking through the extensive compound looking for any signs of life.
Rights groups believe the hidden room were used as holding pens before taking prisoners to be executed.
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Freed prisoners have since spoken out about the horrors they faced inside.
A 63-year-old who says he was due to be executed on Sunday, told AP: “I haven’t seen the sun until today.
“Instead of being dead tomorrow, thank God, he gave me a new lease of life.”
Another man told a rebel: “We are kept in the dormitory, with 25 people crammed together.
“We only know some of each other’s names because we are forced to sit and look down at all times.”
A third young Syrian man told Al Jazeera: "I had no name in the prison, just a number. I lost my identity, my name and my character.
"I was taken by the regime, and my family assumed I was dead.”
Amnesty International have spent years scrutinising Assad's reign of terror and have labelled the jail a "human slaughterhouse" in the past.
They claimed that hundreds - if not thousands - of inmates had been executed by authorities at the highest level of Assad's government.
The Turkey-based Association of Detainees and The Missing in Sednaya Prison (ADMSP) claim the prison became a "death camp" after the start of the Syrian civil war.
They estimate more than 30,000 prisoners had been executed or died in horrific circumstances, such as torture or starvation, between 2011 and 2018.
Around 500 more inmates had been executed between 2018 and 2021, ADMSP said.
The Syrian government has always dismissed the claims as "baseless" and "devoid of truth".
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Harrowing accounts from thousands of inmates claim physical and psychological abuse was a daily occurrence inside Sednaya.
Some say they were badly beaten, sexually abused and forced to face torture.
Many of their family members were never told if they lived or died behind bars.
The conditions were said to be equally as barbaric with overcrowding and a lack of food, water and medical supplies all being claimed.
The prison liberation comes amid a cascade of events that have toppled Assad's 24-year rule.
After seizing Damascus in a swift and decisive offensive, rebel forces declared victory and announced that the city was "free of Assad."
The dictator fled the capital on Sunday, reportedly aboard a plane that disappeared from radars.
He has been given refuge in Moscow and is currently under Russian protection.
The collapse of Assad's regime ignited celebrations across Syria.
In the capital, thousands poured into the streets, waving rebel flags and lighting flares.
Statues of Assad and his late father, Hafez, were toppled in symbolic acts of defiance.
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At Assad’s presidential palace, rebels filmed themselves looting valuables, including luxury vehicles and designer goods.
It comes as there are now fears that Islamic terror outfits could steal Assad's stockpiles of poisonous chemical weapons and orchestrate deadly attacks across the world.
Bashar Al-Assad's downfall
THE end of Assad’s reign came abruptly this month as rebel forces launched a lightning offensive, exploiting weakened Syrian defences.
Rebels captured Damascus in a lightning campaign, declaring the capital “free” and marking the end of years of brutal authoritarian rule.
With Russia mired in Ukraine and Iran preoccupied with regional conflicts, Assad’s regime was left vulnerable.
Rebels stormed Aleppo, marking a symbolic victory, and Assad fled Damascus.
Assad left aboard a military plane amid rumours of its crash before resurfacing in Moscow, where Vladimir Putin granted him asylum.
It comes as an apparent Russian conspiracy to distribute false news about an al-Assad 'aircraft accident' has been exposed.
The Ukrainian Centre for Strategic Communication and Information Security claimed on X that Russia "hid their trail" in assisting al-Assad's escape by circulating fake claims that he died in a crash.
Meanwhile, opposition forces took control of key cities, toppled Assad’s statues, and announced plans for a transitional government.
The fall of Assad deals a blow to allies Russia and Iran, with both withdrawing assets from Syria.
Challenges remain as Syrians celebrate, but hopes rise for a democratic future after years of war.
His fall not only signals the collapse of a dynastic dictatorship but also underscores the cost of clinging to power through terror.
Bashar al-Assad has left behind a shattered nation.
He decimated Syria’s infrastructure, fractured its society, and plunged millions into despair.
Syria became synonymous with human suffering, and Assad’s name will forever be tied to some of the worst war crimes of the modern era.
The man once seen as a modernising reformer will be remembered instead as a symbol of unchecked brutality, his legacy written in the blood of his own people.
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