TAPAH, Feb 3 — All 100 female detainees at the Bidor Temporary Immigration Depot were relocated last night to various other depots as a move to temporarily vacate the facility.

Immigration director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh said the female detainees have been transferred to depots at Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur, Lenggeng in Negeri Sembilan and Kemayan in Pahang.

He said the immigration depot is temporarily cleared pending the completion of the investigation into the detainees’ rioting and escape from the facility.

On locating the remaining detainees, Ruslin said the search radius has now been extended to five kilometres from the depot.

"We believe they are not far from the depot as their movements are restricted and as we move into the second day, hunger may make the operation tomorrow more manageable,” he said.

Thursday night, a total of 131 illegal immigrants fled from the male block of the Temporary Immigration Depot in Bidor, with one of them reported to have died in a road accident.

Of the total who fled, 115 were Rohingya detainees, followed by 15 Myanmar nationals and one from Bangladesh. — Bernama