Twenty-Eigth Afghan Immigrants Escape From Detention House
Pekanbaru, Riau, Dec 5 (ANTARA) - Twenty eight Afghan immigrants managed to escape from an Immigration Detention House in Pekanbaru, Riau Province, by digging under it, and off they go.
"The 27 Afghan immigrants managed dig a hole, but only one of them failed to got away," the head of the detention center Yanizur said here Sunday.
They got away on Saturday (Dec 4) at 10 p.m. local time.
A guard caught one of them, Muhammad Jalile, while hiding in the thick bushes near the detention house.
The escapees dug a hole under cell IE on the ground floor of the detention house. They bored the 10 centimeter concrete floor under their beds and built an oval-shaped tunnel that is only fit for one person.
"We don't know how they dug the tunnel. We only found some steel nails around the tunnel," Yanizur said.
The tunnel is about 1.5 meters deep and its bottom soaked in water. The tunnel is 10 meters long.
Only two guards patrolled and made the final checking at 9.30 p.m, Yanizur said, adding that the mouth of the tunnel covered under mattresses.
Yanizur said regulations at the detention house was not so tight, enabling the prisoners to wonder around quite freely. The immigrants usually got together in the hall and the cell was not locked until midnight, he said.
The detention house management had coordinated with the police and the customs of Sultan Syarif Kasim Airport of Pekanbaru in taking precautions to prevent the escapees from leaving the region, Yanizur said.
The escapees were Khalid, Abdul K, Tanveer G, Abdul R, Wahab Al Abdul Husni, Muhammad Alsif, Hasatullah, Aisan, Muhammad, Muhammad Anwar, Muhammad Rezai, Muhammad Reza, Hassan Ahmadi, Muhammad Hussain, Syed Hussain, Rahmatullah, Muhammad Hussain, Ghulam Hussain, Muhammad Ali S, Muhammad Husin Mirzal, Ghulam Abdul, Muhammad Arif Ahmadi, Muhammad Yusuf, Mustofa, and Juna Khan.
Yanizur said there were five escape attempts in the 2009-2010 period.
Some 37 immigrants escaped in June 2009 by climbing the prison wall using a long sarong cloth, and 11 others got way in September 2009, he said.
Thirty immigrants also escaped on September 25 last year on the eve of Idul Fitri. Another escape was also carried out by three illegal immigrants on October 31 2010, a day after Dharma Karyadhika Day commemoration.
