TAPAH: Police are intensifying efforts to track down 130 illegal immigrants who escaped from the Temporary Immigration Depot in Bidor last night, with the search focused on areas within a certain radius of the detention centre.

Perak police chief Comm Datuk Seri Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri said the escapees, aged between 17 and 35 years old, were believed to be hiding in nearby areas as they fled without any money, personal necessities and food.

"Given their situation and with the involvement of various agencies, we can recapture them. You will be informed of any arrests later," he told reporters outside the depot on Friday.

He said the search operation involved Battalion 3 of the General Operations Force (GOF), Perak state police headquarters Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the Immigration Department and the Bukit Aman's air wing.

He said police were conducting stringent checks at roadblocks mounted in the surrounding areas of Tapah and nearby districts of Kampar and Muallim.

Comm Mohd Yusri said preliminary investigations showed that the detainees had rioted and broken down the barbed wire fencing before escaping.

He said the cause of the rioting was being investigated and the Immigration director-general would announce the findings.

He urged anyone who comes across the Rohingya and Myanmar escapees to immediately report to the nearest police station.

"Members of the public who help or take sympathy on the escapees can be charged with abetment,” he said.

Comm Mohd Yusri also denied social media reports that 13 of the Rohingya escapees had been killed in accidents at KM335 of the North-South Expressway.

"Only one was killed in an accident. Police would like to advise the public to stop spreading fake news,” he said.

Earlier, Tapah OCPD Supt Mohd Naim Asnawi said 115 Rohingya and 16 Myanmar detainees had escaped from the depot at 9.50 pm last night.

One of them was subsequently killed in an accident at KM 335 northbound the NSE. - Bernama