'We can't tell who is who': Syrians scour disfigured corpses for signs of detained loved ones

Syrian families arrive to cross into Syria from Turkey at the Cilvegozu border gate. Picture: AP Photo/Metin Yoksu

Using only the light on their mobile phones, wailing men and women examined disfigured bodies lying in a darkened hospital morgue in Syria's capital for signs of their relatives who had disappeared into Bashar al-Assad's notorious prison system.

Dozens of corpses - blackened, decomposing and missing limbs or heads - were found overnight by rescuers digging for hidden cells at Saydnaya, a prison north of Damascus, where rights groups said torture and mass executions had been common.