200 drug users bust out of Vietnam rehab centre

Around 200 drug users escaped from a rehab centre in Vietnam on Saturday, police said, the latest breakout attempt from the country’s controversial treatment facilities.

Some addicts are forced by law to spend up to two years in Vietnam’s rehab centers, while others are admitted by family or check themselves in.

Most detainees undergo cold-turkey treatment in the notoriously overcrowded centres or are subjected to solitary confinement for breaking rules.

Several breakouts have occurred in recent years and the most recent started on Saturday morning in the southern province of Tien Giang, a police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that about half the escapees had already been captured.