BANDAR BAHARU: Rohingya illegal immigrants who broke out of the temporary detention centre here are said to have claimed they did so because they were angered that a fellow detainee allegedly died after being denied medication for his illness.
Syamsuddin Che Adni, a resident of Kampung Relau, here, said this was what the foreigners told him when he asked them why they had broken out from the camp in Jalan Besar Relau.
The 29-year-old, however, was not told what sort of illness the detainee had nor when this had taken place.
It was also not known why, if true, the detainee was denied medication.
"We asked them why they were breaking out from the depot, and the group said they were angered by the death of a fellow detainee who died after not being given medication for his illness."
Syamsuddin, who was one of the first persons to notice the foreigners feeling the depot, said the Rohingya group was chanting "bebas, bebas (freedom, freedom)" upon marching out from the depot.
Surprisingly, he did not hear any loud commotion from the depot to suggest that the detainees were rioting prior to their departure.
"I asked Rela members who were manning the depot whether they needed help to recapture the detainees and they said yes.
"I immediately contacted four of my good friends and we started tailing the group on motorcycles and a pick-up truck," said the mechanic.
Syamsuddin and his friends tailed the refugees to Bukit Sungai Rambai and even tried to lure them to Jawi prison, but they diverted to another route.
After over two hours of walking with bare feet, some of them were getting exhausted and were detached from their group.
"We had apprehended 12 of them and took them back to the depot," he said.
Syamsuddin said the rest of the group continued walking towards Kampung Sungai Kechil before separating into smaller groups.
"About 6.50am, suddenly one of the groups walked straight onto the North-South Expressway and tried to cross. We tried to warn them but they refused to listen," he said.
All six who attempted to cross the NSE died on the spot when they were hit by three passing lorries.
Syamsuddin helped to lift the body of a 6-year-old girl who died in the horrific crash, a scene that he said would haunt him forever.
After the incident, Syamsuddin and his friends managed to coax a group of 229 detainees to take a break at the side of the expressway, before they were detained.
#kw Bandar Baharu, Immigration Department, temporary depot, rioting, breakout, Rohingya, illegal immigrants