Turkish rescue workers end search for survivors at Syria’s Saydnaya prison

Turkish rescue workers concluded their search for survivors at Saydnaya prison on Tuesday, finding no detainees in hidden cells after a thorough operation, according to the head of Türkiye’s disaster relief agency.

The infamous prison, located just north of Damascus, has long symbolized rights abuses under Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted by Syrian opposition forces on December 8.

A 120-member Turkish team conducted the search at the request of Syria’s new authorities, said Okay Memis, the director of Türkiye’s AFAD disaster relief agency.

“The entire building was searched and analyzed with a scanner, and no living person was found,” Memis told journalists at the site.

Saydnaya prison, notorious for extrajudicial executions, torture, and forced disappearances, has been a grim landmark of Syria’s civil war. The rebels freed prisoners held in the facility early last week, but lingering rumors of underground cells fueled suspicions that detainees might still remain hidden.

The Association of Detainees and Missing Persons of Saydnaya Prison (ADMSP) dismissed these rumors, saying claims about hidden cells are likely unfounded.

The complex had also been thoroughly searched by Syria’s White Helmets emergency workers, who wrapped up their operations on Tuesday, confirming they were unable to locate additional prisoners.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, more than 100,000 people have died in Syrian jails and detention centers since the civil war began in 2011.

While the search has now officially ended, Saydnaya prison remains a haunting reminder of the brutalities that defined Assad’s rule.