Police say 30 Muslim Rohingya asylum seekers from Myanmar who were detained in southern Thailand for illegally entering the country escaped from a police jail cell, 10 days after they were moved from a crowded detention center.
Police Maj Gen Suwit Choensiri says the men used blades to cut the cell's bars and used ropes made of clothes to escape from the Sadao district police station in Songkhla province early today.
He says police are checking closed circuit television footage to trace the men.
More than 1,700 asylum seekers from Myanmar's beleaguered Rohingya minority who arrived in Thailand by boat early this year are being held in crowded detention centers.
The 30 who escaped today are among hundreds of jailed Rohingya who protested last month against the crowded conditions.
