In a chilling account highlighting the severity of Iran’s ongoing crackdown on protests, an Iranian man reportedly survived after pretending to be dead for three days inside a forensic facility, fearing he would be executed if discovered alive.
Account shared by rights group
The incident was reported by the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC), which cited an account it received on Wednesday. The organisation said it could not independently verify the details due to internet blackouts and restrictions imposed by Iranian authorities, but noted that the account represents a rare case of survival.
According to the testimony, the man was badly wounded by a bullet and ended up at the Kahrizak Forensic Medical Centre, where bodies of deceased protesters were reportedly being kept. Fearing a “finishing shot” by security forces if he showed signs of life, he lay motionless under a plastic sheet for nearly three days without food or water.
Family finds him among the dead
The man’s family reportedly searched for him for three days after he went missing, visiting hospitals and the Behesht Zahra Cemetery. They eventually located him at the Kahrizak facility, after images of deceased protesters circulated online.
After being identified by his family, the man was transferred to a hospital for urgent medical treatment.
Scale of deaths emerges
The account surfaced as the BBC reported receiving hundreds of images of deceased victims taken at the same facility. The broadcaster said it identified 326 individuals from 392 close-up photographs, including children as young as 12 and elderly people up to 70 years old. Many bodies were reportedly too disfigured to identify, with dozens labelled as “John Doe” or “Jane Doe”.
Earlier this month, HRANA estimated that around 250 bodies had accumulated at the centre. As of Wednesday, HRANA said it had confirmed 4,519 deaths linked to the protests, with over 9,000 more cases under review.
International concern grows
Human rights groups have expressed alarm over the scale of fatalities, lack of transparency, and restricted access to information, as calls for independent international investigations continue to grow.