Thousands flock to Assad regime prison in search for missing loved ones

A man shows two ropes tied in the shape of nooses, found in the infamous Saydnaya military prison (Hussein Malla/AP)

Thousands of people have been flocking from all over Syria to Saydnaya prison outside Damascus in the hope of finding loved ones arrested by Bashar Assad’s regime.

For the past two days, all have been looking for signs of relatives who disappeared years or even decades ago into the secretive, sprawling prison known as “the Slaughterhouse”.