Warning: This story contains content that some readers may find disturbing
Harrowing new videos have emerged showing corpses from a Tehran morgue, blood-soaked floors and crowds of people searching for loved ones after the government’s deadly crackdown on protesters in Iran.
The videos analyzed by BBC Verify and BBC Persian, which are too graphic to show, are among the most shocking examples yet of how brutal the government’s response has been since the unrest began on 28 December.
Forensic examination of the footage reveals nearly 200 bodies in the mortuary complex, most with visible wounds and one victim identified as a 16-year-old.
Anti-government demonstrations have spread to more than 68 cities and towns, verified videos show, though the actual number may be much higher. A near-total internet blackout imposed by the government since last week has almost completely cut off more than 90 million Iranians from the outside world.
The exact number of people killed in the movement is not known. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) put the estimated number at more than 2,500. An Iranian official previously told Reuters that 2,000 people had been killed but claimed the number was “terrorists”.
A black body bag shows the 16-year-old victim’s date of birth [X/@Vahid]
BBC Verify and BBC Persian have previously reported on images from this morgue but we are not showing these new videos because the images are too graphic.
The footage was posted on Tuesday by Vahid, a US-based Iranian social media influencer and activist, who said it was filmed on January 10 at the Kahrizak Forensic Medical Center in south Tehran.
Wahid said the videos were shot by a man who traveled nearly 1,000 kilometers to get internet access. The man told BBC Persian that he used a mobile network from a neighboring country to upload the footage. Waheed has been posting dozens of videos of events inside the country for the outside world to see.
Two videos show rows of body bags on the ground as people walk up and down a street that runs through the northern part of the huge mortuary complex. He later enters a courtyard and a large warehouse, and walks in and out of adjacent rooms filled with more body bags. At one point he is heard describing the scene as “apocalyptic”.
[BBC]
The man filming is heard saying, “Today is Saturday, one day after the call.” He was referring to the call by Raza Pahlavi, the late Shah’s exiled son, for nationwide protests last Thursday and Friday night.
Two more clips include a collection of photos taken from the morgue showing several bodies wrapped in zip-up bags, including one that appears to have been burned.
BBC Verify and BBC Persian have counted at least 186 bodies in the five-minute video and at least 178 in the 16-minute clip. The two videos probably show the same entities so we can’t be sure, but the actual number could be much higher.
The videos have at least nine separate clips edited together. The position of the shadows in the footage indicates that these segments were probably filmed at different times throughout the day. We found recognizable features from the complex, including separate buildings, red roofs of warehouses and fences with satellite images on Google.
The man films as he wanders inside the center, where dozens of bodies are laid out on stretchers and on the floor. The footage shows some body bags fully zipped up while others are half or completely unzipped, revealing the victims’ faces and injuries. Some are completely exposed. We can see blood soaked towels and sheets strewn around the premises with streaks of blood on the floor.
Wounds are visible on some bodies. Two bodies are seen covered in blood and the other one has a deep wound in the abdomen.
Some body bags have papers attached or the body bags have details written in white marker such as name, National ID number, date of birth and death, and in some cases their father’s name. At least two men are described as unidentified on a sheet of paper attached to their bag, and at least one woman and one juvenile are the victims.
The date of death on January 9 is written on the body bags of three of the deceased. Another body bag shows the date of birth using the Iranian calendar. It says 1/1/1388, which corresponds to 21/3/2009, indicating it is 16 years old.
At one point in the 16-minute clip, the man points his phone at a building to his right and a voice can be heard saying: “There are many. [bodies] inside It’s not possible to go in … it’s a women’s area.” Iranian morgues separate men’s and women’s bodies for religious reasons.
At another point we can see a body bag behind the audience and a nearby man is heard telling a female officer it’s his sister.
Several ambulances, horses and vans are drawn around the grounds. Officers are seen inspecting rows of bodies, taking swabs from victims and talking to potential loved ones.
It is not clear why the bodies of those killed in anti-government protests may have been moved to the centre, but eyewitness accounts provided to BBC Persian suggest hospitals were overwhelmed by the number of protest deaths.
Harana, which has been keeping the death toll data since the start of the conflict, has reported that 2,403 protesters, 147 government-affiliated people, nine civilians and 12 children have been killed so far.
Crowds of people, many who appear to be family members and friends, are seen walking in and out of the compound trying to identify the body. Crying and wailing are often heard in the videos as people mourn the loss of their loved ones.
“Some of our good people have been killed,” the man filming is heard saying.
Iran’s state TV reported that a “substantial” number of bodies had been taken to the morgue. It claimed that most of the victims were members of Iran’s security forces or passers-by who had nothing to do with the demonstrations.
Most international news organizations, including the BBC, are banned from operating in the country so we have to rely on verifying footage on social media.
Additional reporting by Rosa Asadi and Richard Irwin-Brown
