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SCMP Reporter

HUNDREDS of Vietnamese who broke out of a secure compound in Whitehead Detention Centre in an all-day battle with security forces were hunted overnight as they hid in other sections of the camp.

 About 600 detainees escaped through wire fences as more than 2,000 police, Correctional Services (CSD) and Fire Department officers moved in to transfer 1,500 screened-out asylum seekers to High Island Detention Centre.

 More than 800 rounds of tear gas were fired at rioting Vietnamese, who took to the roofs of nearby huts and attacked police and CSD officers when they charged into Section One at 9.30 am yesterday.

 Security forces moved almost 900 detainees - mostly women and children - during the day, but the remaining 600 fled after section fences were cut. By 11 pm, 260 of the missing 600 had been found, but 360 were still at large.

 Officers planned to spend the night searching and packing the belongings of people who had already been removed from Section One.

 Police may use dogs to track down any detainees who are still missing in other sections of the camp this morning.

 At least 127 police and 41 CSD officers were injured by barrages of bricks and spears during the operation. Police said 27 Vietnamese were injured.

 Correctional Services Department assistant commissioner Bonnie Wong said the level of resistance had surpassed government expectations.

 'We were moving 1,500 people, but found we were actually tackling more than 5,000 people,' said Ms Wong. In the past, even the most fierce resistance had come from only one section, but yesterday every section had 'lent a helping hand'.

 Most of the injured were suffering from heat exhaustion in sweltering temperatures, burns, the effects of tear gas or from injuries to their limbs. Twenty-three police were treated and discharged from Prince of Wales Hospital at Sha Tin.

 Last night, seven police, one CSD officer and one Vietnamese remained in hospital. One officer was reported to be recovering from a heart attack although this could not be confirmed.

 Police director of operations, Senior Assistant Commissioner Toby Emmet said one officer had been stabbed in the head - through his helmet - by a spear made from a sharpened iron bar.

 Mr Emmet said a 'considerable amount' of tear gas had been used, but declined to give a specific figure before today.

 'We were caught in-between, because if we left the camp less people would be injured, [but] if we called off the operation until tomorrow, we may have faced even worse resistance,' he said.

 Senior Inspector Tim Lo Kam-tim, 34, said he had been hit by a spear made from a sharpened iron water pipe. The weapon pierced his boot and cut a ligament in his ankle.

 'I was working in Section One when the spear, thrown across a fence from another section, hit me,' he said.

 'I don't find the boat people more wild than in past camp removals, but they do have a lot of weapons like spears and stones.'  One CSD staffer said he anticipated growing desperation among Vietnamese. 'As they know they will be repatriated, they are choosing to use violence to resist. Our job will certainly be much more difficult in future,' he said.

 Refugee lawyer Pam Baker said she was 'absolutely appalled' by the action and could not understand why the Government had taken a confrontational approach.

 'It was as if they stage-managed it,' she said. 'They wanted a shambles.

 'Section Eight [in Whitehead] was moved last month, quietly and peacefully, to High Island. Did they not learn anything from April 7 last year?'  After last year's raid by 1,250 police and CSD in Section Seven of Whitehead, 200 Vietnamese sought medical treatment, sparking an inquiry which found some CSD officers had used excessive violence.

 Sha Tin District Board member Lee To-ming emerged from a briefing in the camp in mid-afternoon with concerns about inadequate preparations. Fences separating sections of the camp were opened up so swiftly, officers thought some wires had been cut in preparation for the removal, he said.

 The almost-900 Vietnamese women and children who were loaded on to buses and moved out of the overheating camp were visibly distressed, wailing and apparently suffering effects of the gas.

 But Governor Chris Patten issued a statement late last night commending the security forces on their actions.

 'I look forward to receiving the reports of [yesterday's] operation at Whitehead, but in the meantime I would like to place on record my gratitude and that of the community for the courage, commitment and professionalism displayed by our police and Correctional Services officers, who carried out their duties in the face of extreme provocation and dangerous attacks,' he said.

 The raid began when scores of police and CSD officers in riot gear and wielding perspex shields ran in formation into Section One on the southeastern tip of the camp from an access track known as 'Nathan Road'.

 The first tear gas canister was fired 25 minutes later, after a hail of projectiles was hurled by Vietnamese in adjoining compounds.

 Hundreds more rounds of gas, smoke grenades and pepper fog were fired throughout the day, as officers battled to prevent Section One detainees from escaping through the broken fences into surrounding sections.

 During one two-minute period shortly after 2 pm, 23 overhead 'cluster' gas bombs were fired.

 'Initially, smoke was used to prevent the escalation of violence offered by the Vietnamese migrants and for the personal protection of officers on the ground,' a CSD spokesman said.

 Vietnamese on roofs hurled objects at the security forces, who in turn gradually reclaimed parts of the camp by advancing behind shields under cover of tear gas and dragging people off the hut roofs.

 At one stage, the police moved two armoured vehicles into a camp thick with gas and smoke, and used water jets to disperse groups of Vietnamese on the ground.

 The confrontation died down during the lunch and dinner hours, but after 6 pm the police and CSD launched a fresh assault on groups of boat people who refused to disperse. This was followed by another assault at 7.15 pm.



Chaos as Viets battle move