Vietnam: Drug addicts escape from forced rehab center

By Bennett Murray

HANOI, Vietnam (AA) - Hundreds of escaped inmates remain at large after around 600 escaped from a southern Vietnamese drug rehabilitation center overnight.

The breakout occurred around 11 p.m. Sunday (1700GMT) after the inmates forced open a gate at the Dong Nai provincial rehab.

Armed with fire extinguishers and sticks, they forced their way out the front gate, reported the Tuoi Tre newspaper Monday.

Bystanders outside the center were robbed for money as the mob made its getaway.

Local shops were ordered to shutdown in the wake of the escape, with checkpoints installed on a nearby highway to search for inmates.

While around 150 of those who escaped were reportedly apprehended, most remain at large.

Vietnamese law dictates that homeless drug addicts, or any user who relapses after receiving outpatient treatment, receive a mandatory two-year rehab sentence.

Critics, however, report overcrowding and lack of proper drug counseling in the forced rehab centers.

The center in Dong Nai was filled twice to its design capacity, according to government data.