39 addicts escape rehab, 27 still sought by police
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail Shanghai Daily, April 16, 2013
Twelve of 39 drug users who escaped from a drug rehab center nine days ago have surrendered or been caught, authorities in Zhenxiong County in Yunnan Province announced yesterday.
 |
|
A total of 39 drug users escaped from a drug rehab center while doing morning excises at around 8:11am on April 6. |
Police are still searching for the remaining 27.
The group's escape first came to light in a post by a netizen identified as Fenghuangzhe, and it later went viral, leading to suggestions of dereliction of duty and management loopholes.
Fenghuangzhe's post said three sets of gates inside the detention house were not locked and only three guards were on duty, which gave the group a chance to flee during morning excises, the Yunnan Daily newspaper reported.
Police have asked him to take down his online post, the paper reported.
Local officials acknowledged the escape in a statement, saying that "39 drug users together escaped while doing morning excises at around 8:11am on April 6."
But the statement noted that the 39 were temporarily housed at a transfer center where drug addicts receive education and wait for their punishment rather than at a "detention house."
Plans had called for 24 to be sent to a detoxification center in Zhaotong City to receive treatment, and nine were to receive treatment in their communities. Six were at the center only to take urine tests, it said.
Officials responsible for the programs were suspended.
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)