1,200 drug addicts escape from rehab centre

Police in southern Ho Chi Minh City are still searching for nearly 500 drug addicts from two groups of nearly 1,200 who escaped from a rehabilitation centre, police said today.

The incident occurred on Sunday night when there was a fight between two groups of inmates; 798 inmates took advantage of the chaos to overpower security guards at the centre in Pham Van Coi village, said a village police officer.

Last night, another 384 inmates escaped from the centre, he said adding that police had recaptured 698 of them while 484 were still on the run.

Some 400 police have been dispatched to take control of the centre.

Checkpoints manned by police have been set up throughout 21 villages in Cu Chi District to hunt for the inmates, he said. The centre housed about 1,500 drug addicts from Ho Chi Minh City and some neighbouring provinces.