Depot riot: Escapees are headed south in large groups, barefooted and exhausted, say police

GEORGE TOWN: The escaped detainees who broke out of the immigration detention depot in Kedah seem to be headed south, say Penang police.

State police chief Comm Datuk Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain (pic) said that based on police observation, the escapees were barefooted and moving in large groups.

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"They are moving in large groups and as they are barefooted and I believe they must be tired.

"After speaking to some of those who have been caught it has strengthened my assumption that they are moving south but do not have an actual destination in mind.

"One of them said they were just following the crowd," he said during a press conference held by Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow at Komtar on Wednesday (April 20).

He said some of the children in the groups were as young as a year old, while there were those who were frail and elderly.

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"They are detainees waiting to be sent back.

"They are not handcuffed and their movement must be limited as they have children with them," he said.

He said as of noon on Wednesday, there were still 171 Rohingya detainees at large.

He said out of the total 664 detainees at the depot, 528 had escaped following a riot at the depot on Wednesday morning.

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"So far as of noon today, 357 have been found including the six who had died," he said.

Comm Mohd Shuhaily said however since noon they have found six more detainees in Sungai Kerian, Nibong Tebal.

"Efforts to bring them into custody are ongoing," he said.

On Wednesday morning, a total of 528 Rohingya detainees escaped from the Relau immigration depot in Bandar Baharu - on the border between Kedah and Penang - at 4.30am.

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This was following a protest that quickly turned into a riot at the depot.

Six of them died while crossing the road at KM168 of the North-South Expressway, in Jawi at 6.50am.

It is understood that most of the Rohingya there were previously detained in operations by various agencies in Langkawi.