Just 24 hours after rebel forces captured Damascus, rescue teams are battling to reach what they believe are hundreds of political prisoners trapped in the subterranean levels of Saidnaya Prison. With ventilation systems failing and oxygen levels dropping, every minute counts.
"We can see them on the monitors," says Ahmed, a White Helmets rescuer, pointing to surveillance screens still flickering in the prison's abandoned control room. "They're alive down there, but we can't reach them yet."
The scene above ground is chaotic. Civilians armed with sledgehammers work alongside specialized rescue teams, breaking through walls and digging toward underground chambers. The sound of concrete being smashed mingles with shouts of directions and occasional cries of success when another cell is breached.
Five specialist teams from the White Helmets, Syria's volunteer rescue service, arrived this morning with trained dogs, cutting equipment, and medical supplies. They're working against the clock to penetrate the prison's deeper levels, where electronic security systems - now dead without power - have sealed prisoners behind reinforced doors.
"This isn't just a prison - it's an engineering marvel of cruelty," explains Dr. Sarah Mahmoud, a human rights investigator who has spent years documenting Saidnaya's horrors. "Every aspect of its design was meant to maximize suffering while hiding it from the world."
The evidence of that cruelty is everywhere. In one recently opened cell block, rescuers discovered what appears to be a hydraulic press designed to compress human remains - a grotesque solution to the problem of disposing of bodies in an underground facility.
But there are moments of hope. Yesterday evening, as rebels breached one of the women's sections, cameras captured the moment dozens of prisoners, including children, emerged from their cells. "Come out, you're safe now," called the rebels. A small boy, blinking in the light, stepped out holding his mother's hand.
For many Syrians, Saidnaya has long been more than just a prison - it was the bogeyman of their childhood stories, the place where people disappeared. Now, its dark secrets are finally being exposed to daylight.
International pressure is mounting for professional assistance. "If the global community wants any credibility with the Syrian people, they need boots on the ground here now," says Charles Lister, a leading Syria researcher. "We're talking about thousands of lives hanging in the balance."
As night falls in Damascus, the rescue work continues under floodlights. The sound of hammering echoes across the prison yard, where families gather holding photos of long-lost relatives, hoping that behind one of those walls, their loved ones are still alive.
For the rescuers, it's a simple race against time. For Syria, it's a brutal confrontation with the darkest chapter of its recent history. And for those still trapped in the darkness below, it's the difference between life and death.
Channel 12 contributed to this article.
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