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Three Days Among the Dead: A Harrowing Account of a Protester Saved from Kahrizak
Exclusive: According to an account received by the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, during the nationwide protests a family spent three days searching for their son, who had left home to protest and never returned.
In anguish and uncertainty, the family first searched hospitals, then went to Behesht Zahra, and ultimately found themselves at Kahrizak—a place whose shocking images of large numbers of protesters’ bodies circulated widely on social media and in the press. At Kahrizak, the family was forced to search among a mass of bodies for their child, where hope and terror were intertwined. In the end, against all fears, they found their son alive.
He had been severely wounded by gunfire and, according to this account, had remained without water or food for three days, lying motionless inside a plastic body bag used for the dead, out of fear of a fatal “finishing shot” by security forces. According to this report, the family ultimately succeeded in transferring him to a hospital for medical treatment.
This account, while deeply distressing, captures a rare moment of survival amid death. At the same time, it offers a stark picture of the conditions surrounding the crackdown on protests, the treatment of the wounded, and the pressures placed on families seeking access to care—families left wandering between hospitals, morgues, and security facilities in search of their loved ones. It should be noted that, due to severe internet restrictions and shutdowns in Iran, independent verification of this account is not currently possible.
در گفت وگوی شاهین میلانی، مدیر اجرایی مرکز اسناد حقوق بشر ایران، با تلویزیون ایران اینترنشنال، او از روایت هایی «بسیار هولناک» درباره سرکوب اعتراضات اخیر سخن گفت. شاهین میلانی تأکید کرد که قطع اینترنت و خطرات امنیتی برای شاهدان داخل ایران، دسترسی مستقیم نهادهای حقوق بشری به… pic.twitter.com/q9ShdPdZQz
— Iranhrdc.org (@IHRDC) January 21, 2026
