Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud, the Director-General of Immigration, announced today that 528 inmates escaped from a temporary detention facility in Sungai Bakap, Penang, earlier this morning.
A riot in the early hours of Wednesday morning at an immigration detention centre in Relau, Bandar Baharu, Penang ended in a large prison break, with approximately 528 prisoners leaving.
He claimed that the incident occurred at 4.30 a.m., when the detainees, all Rohingya, shattered the grille and door to a block in the detention centre.
Six of them were killed when they were hit by a car while attempting to cross a road in order to flee. While the majority of the escapees have been apprehended, 165 remain at large.
Penang police head Commissioner Datuk Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain verified independently that six of the 528 detainees who fled perished while attempting to cross the North South Expressway.
Members of the public are advised to contact the Immigration or Police department if they have any information about the refugees.
