Around 200 inmates have broken down the walls and escaped from a drug rehabilitation centre in Vietnam’s southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau on Wednesday morning, according to local media.

It’s the second time a breakout has ocurred in the country this week and the third time the breakout has happened at the same centre this year.

State-run online newspaper VnExpress reports about 200 inmates knocked out guards and escaped from the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Education and Vocational Training Center in Tan Thanh District at around 7 am local time.

It added that police have so far captured 20 of them and are tracking down the rest.

The centre, which is 66 kilometers to the southeast of Ho Chi Minh City, is home to more than 600 inmates, including more than 30 women.

In April, over 450 inmates were reported to have escaped from the Tan Thanh centre.

On Sunday, more than 160 drug addicts stirred up chaos and broke out of a rehabilitation centre in the neighboring province of Dong Nai.

Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung visited the Dong Nai centre on Tuesday and admitted that the inmates were unhappy as the center was heavily overcrowded. It holds 1,500 inmates despite its capacity of only 800.

Vietnam has 132 rehab centers, and there are 220,000 drug users on official records.

– TiVi Tuan-san