NIBONG TEBAL: The hundreds of ethnic Rohingya illegal immigrants who fled the temporary Immigration Detention Depot in Bandar Baharu, Kedah, early today, are believed to have walked for more than two hours before 229 of them were finally rearrested at Km168 of the North-South Expressway (NSE).
From the detention centre, they are believed to have walked through villages before arriving at an oil palm plantation, situated next to the NSE, where six of them were subsequently killed while trying to cross the highway to the other side in their attempts to flee.
An oil palm plantation owner, who wanted to be known only as Nathan, in his late 40s, said his workers saw hundreds of the illegal immigrants running through his plantation to gain access to the NSE early this morning before alerting him to it.
He said the group had broken and stepped on the fence to gain entry into the highway.
Nathan, who is familiar with the area, said it would normally take one person more than two hours to walk from Jalan Besar Relau in Bandar Baharu to Sungai Kechil here.
"I managed to talk to one of them who told me they had escaped from the detention centre and were trying to evade arrest, but did not know where they were heading.
"He also told me that some of them had been staying in the detention centre for many years and were stressed with the condition there, prompting them to escape," he told the New Straits Times when met at his plantation this afternoon.
Nathan said he did not dare do anything for fear of his and his workers' safety.
He said it was during the chaos that he heard a loud crash and found several of the illegal immigrants lying on the highway dead.
"Besides the six who died at the scene, there were at least two more seriously injured and taken to hospital.
"I was shocked at the sight of the dead bodies. It saddens me to see their condition," he added.
Meanwhile, Nathan said he had stopped all work at the oil palm plantation for the day.
"I am afraid for our safety. I don't know if there are still illegal immigrants hiding inside my plantation or whether they are armed. I am just taking precautionary measures."
Meanwhile, several police vehicles were seen driving into the area to check on possible illegal immigrants.
Checks by the NST at the site later found several personal belongings, believed to be that of the illegal immigrants who tried to flee such as identification papers as well as kain pelikat and songkok.
Further checks also revealed that the fence which was damaged had been replaced with barb wire fencing.
About 4.30am today, 528 illegal immigrants comprising mostly Rohingya fled the temporary Immigration Detention Depot located at a former National Service Camp.
Following their escape, villagers nearby managed to apprehend 88 of them before surrendering them to the Immigration authorities.
Subsequently, police rearrested some 229 illegal immigrants, at Km168 of the NSE here.
In their haste to escape, six people — two men, two women, a boy and a girl — were killed while crossing the highway.
Video clips of the illegal immigrants escaping and the accident have since found their way onto social media.