Asylum centre fire breaks out during escape bid

A major fire was raging ‘‘out of control’’ today after an attempted breakout from a British detention centre housing asylum seekers.

Four people - two staff and two detainees - suffered minor injuries at the Yarl’s Wood centre near Bedford in England after several fires were started last night, Bedfordshire Fire Service said.

The fire service said the blaze, which started in an administration block, was spreading through the linked complex.

The 400 detainees in the centre - failed asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected - were evacuated from the buildings, a fire spokeswoman said.

A number of refugees were believed to have escaped from the centre and police were attempting to find out how many were unaccounted for.

The first fire started shortly after 8pm yesterday in the reception hall but was extinguished by firefighters wearing breathing apparatus. But other blazes in the same wing followed.

More than 80 firefighters and 15 fire engines were tackling the blaze ‘‘defensively’’ - trying to prevent it spreading from the administration wing to other parts of the centre.

Backup was called in from Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire fire services.

By 4am, the fire service said the administration centre was 100% alight and the blaze had spread to a second wing, which was 50% alight.

The spokeswoman said: ‘‘It’s all linked and that’s our problem. We are frantically trying to stop it spreading further.’’

Police were initially called to a disturbance at the Yarl’s Wood centre, which is at Clapham, near Bedford.

A spokesman said: ‘‘There was a disturbance early in the evening. We believe a number of people may have left the compound.’’

A source at the centre said: ‘‘It certainly appears to be a breakout attempt and we suspect some people have escaped, but we can’t say for sure yet.’’

Eyewitness Elizabeth Scott said: ‘‘There is a lot of smoke going up, filling the sky.

‘‘There is a huge fire coming up from the building, lighting up the evening.’’

There are currently 400 people at Yarl’s Wood, which was built last year to house 900.

It was one of three new detention centres opened by the Home Office to speed up the removal of asylum seekers whose applications have failed.