TAPAH: The operation to track down the remaining 123 escapees from the Temporary Immigration Depot in Bidor is continuing tonight.
It is learnt that 15 of the escapees were detected in nearby oil palm estates and the authorities are concentrating their search in these areas.
Media personnel were following the search operation in an oil palm estate located off the south-bound Tapah Rest and Treatment Area, one of the areas where the escapees are believed to be hiding.
About 15 personnel from the Immigration Department and General Operations Force (GOF) entered the area using searchlights.
They were split into two groups and the situation was quite challenging as they had to trudge through soggy and slippery grounds.
Soon after the media team reached the operation area, two escapees were captured, bringing the number rearrested to six.
However, when contacted tonight, Perak police chief Datuk Seri Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri said seven escapees had been captured so far.
At about 9.50 pm last night, 131 illegal immigrants who are mostly Rohingya detainees rioted and broke out of the detention centre.
However, one of them was killed in an accident at KM 335 of the North-South Highway. -BERNAMA