Syrian Civil Defense:  The remains of 14 people were recovered in Adra Industrial Area in Damascus countryside

The Syrian Civil Defense of the Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management announced on Wednesday evening the recovery of the remains of 14 people in the Adra industrial area in Damascus countryside.

The Civil Defense said in a statement today that its teams, in coordination with the National Authority for Missing Persons, responded last Monday to a report of the discovery of bone remains during excavation operations and preparing foundations for the establishment of a mill in the area, and accordingly, the specialized teams went to the site, in coordination with the Public Prosecution and the security authorities, where an official seizure of the incident was opened and the process of retrieving the remains was supervised.

He explained that before the search for the remains began, the demining teams conducted a survey of the site to ensure that there were no mines or unexploded ordnance, after which the search teams started working over two days, where they found the  remains of four people that were scattered and mixed as a result of the automated excavation work previously carried out by the owner of the property, while the teams were able to recover the remains of ten additional people the next day.

The Civil Defense added  that the search teams documented the remains in preparation for handing them over to the concerned authorities to take the necessary measures.

It is noteworthy that the competent authorities have found a number of mass graves in several areas of Syria during the past months, including the remains of hundreds of people who died as a result of the practices of the former regime and its allies during the years of the revolution, while the Syrian Network for Human Rights has documented nearly 177,000 cases of enforced disappearances since March 2011.