TAWAU, 10 Oct 2020:
Sabah police are hunting for six illegal immigrants from the Philippines and one from Indonesia who fled while being quarantined at the Tawau Temporary Detention Centre (PTS) here yesterday.
Tawau district police chief ACP Peter Umbuas said 14 detainees had escaped in the incident but seven had been recaptured.
He said the 14 detainees were quarantined while waiting for the results of their Covid-19 screening.
“At 2am today, a supervisor in the PTS hall heard a worker screaming for help as he saw two detainees climbing the back fence in Block 4 and fleeing.
“Further investigation in the men’s detention division in Block 1 found that 14 men had escaped, all of them PTS detainees waiting to be sent back to their country of origin,” he said in a statement last tonight.
Peter identified the six Filipinos as Aidal Girol, 42; Basri Jumbli, 29; Mad Kadir Basir, 36; Dal Mujiral, 40; Talim Tipayan, 36; and Jaladi Benedi, 38, and the Indonesian, Anwar Awal, 35.
He said anyone with information on the incident should contact the nearest police station.
There is heightened alert over illegal immigrants as they have been blamed for the latest Covid-19 outbreak in Sabah.
– Bernama