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| Sunday, 09 April 2006 |
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Mass break out at Malaysian immigration centre KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia, April 8, 2006 (AFP) Sixty-four foreign migrants escaped from a immigration centre in Sabah state in eastern Malaysia after hundreds of detainees staged a noisy protest, police said Saturday. Wong Chong Fooi, deputy police chief in the state capital Kota Kinabalu, said a massive air and ground search had been launched for the escapees who are mainly from the Philippines and Indonesia. They were awaiting deportation after serving their sentences for immigration-related offences. The break out at the Menggatal temporary detention centre, 15 kilometers (nine miles) north of the capital occurred Friday night, he said. Wong said the migrants escaped by scaling a perimeter fence and tearing down a zinc wall. Earlier, some 1,400 detainees held a noisy protest after claiming a guard was rude to a fellow inmate. Wong said police were called in to calm the situation. "After two hours of negotiations, police managed to calm them down and they returned to their blocks," he said. Wong said guards only realised dozens of detainees were missing after they took a head count early Saturday, adding that initially 64 escaped but two had already surrendered to police. |
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