Nine escape from internment center in Spanish city of Murcia

Nine people are reported to have escaped from an Immigrant Internment Center (CIE) in the Spanish city of Murcia on Monday night.

Local media reported that the escape happened after a revolt of inmates at the internment center in which nine policemen suffered slight injuries.

There was initial confusion in the hours directly after the escape with Spanish TV network RTVE reporting a dozen inmates had escaped and just three policemen injured, but on Tuesday morning those figures had been revised to nine escapees and nine policemen injured.

The causes of the revolt which began shortly after 20:30 local time on Monday, are still being investigated, but it is known that inmates, most of whom are in the center prior to being deported to their homelands, set fire to papers and cardboard in the center and were involved in an "incident" with the police.

The fire brigade were called and arrived with four fire engines and around 40 firefighters and some of the inmates used the confusion to escape. The police have begun searching the area for the escapees.

The Murcia CIE has a capacity for 130 inmates and this is the third incident of the kind in just over a month. Oct. 5 saw 67 inmates escape after a similar revolt, while five more escaped on Oct. 31. Meanwhile similar centers in both Madrid and Barcelona have seen protests at living conditions by inmates.

The Spanish Interior Ministry recently published that 2015 saw a 16 percent rise in the number of illegal immigrants at the Spanish coast, many of whom have been housed in the countries CIEs. Endit