Asylum detainees accused of attacking guards

Officials accused detainees of attacking guards who tried to put out a series of fires started deliberately at a high security Outback immigration centre today, as the Australian government denied its hardline policy against asylum seekers was in crisis.

“Officers were pelted with stones and threatened with metal bars as they tried to extinguish the fires which, driven by strong winds, spread rapidly and eventually destroyed two compounds,” the immigration department said in a statement.

The Australian government vowed not to soften its policy of locking up asylum seekers despite the violence and fires at the Woomera camp – and two other blazes at other camps during the last three days.

All fires were started by inmates, the government said.

The blaze at Woomera, central Australia, destroyed two accommodation blocks, five toilet blocks and two mess halls.