Local media reports more than 500 inmates at a rehabilitation centre in the southern province of Dong Nai, broke out of the facility on Sunday night.

The break-out occurred at about 11:00 pm local time, when a group of newly admitted drug addicts allegedly provoked their fellow patients into vandalising the centre.

State-run news agency Tuoi Tre quoted a Vietnamese official as saying – roughly 150 escapees had been apprehended since this morning, while over 400 remained on the loose.

The Đồng Nai centre is currently housing nearly 1,500 inmates, doubling its designed capacity.

Several large escapes have been reported across Vietnam in recent years following a government order to increase the period of mandatory rehab treatment from one to two years.

– TiVi Tuan-san