KUALA LUMPUR - MORE than 100 illegal immigrants have fled a detention camp in Malaysia after burning down an accommodation block, a senior security official said on Tuesday.
Mr Rusli Mokhtar, deputy commandant of the Lenggeng immigration depot, just south of Kuala Lumpur, said the break-out happened late on Monday.
'Some 109 illegal immigrants - mainly from Myanmar and Thailand - set fire to a detention block and escaped last night,' he told AFP.
Mr Rusli said 19 of the illegals had been recaptured and police have mounted an operation to round up the others.
With one of Asia's largest populations of foreign labourers, Malaysia relies on its 1.8 million immigrants to clean homes, care for children and work in plantations and factories.
In March last year 16 migrants, including 12 Afghans, escaped after cutting their way out of a detention centre at Malaysia's main international airport. -- AFP
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