PRAGUE: About 30 Egyptian asylum-seekers have escaped from a holding center near the Czech capital Prague, sparking tight security measures, the interior ministry said Sunday. Their escape late Saturday from the centre at Velke Prilepy was probably organized by a group smuggling illegal immigrants, ministry spokeswoman Marie Masarikova said. The escapees are seeking to enter another European country, she said. Twenty-seven of them were still missing Sunday but measures were in place to catch them at the country s border, she added. One Egyptian had been injured in the face by his compatriots after trying to talk the group out of fleeing and was still in hospital on Sunday, she said, adding that the number of police officials had been quadrupled in Velke Prilepy following the incident. Last month about 90 other asylum-seekers, mostly Egyptian, escaped from centers at Velke Prilepy and Vysni Lhoty, in the northeast of the country, in what authorities said was an organized escape and attempt to reach a Western country. One asylum-seeker at Velke Prilepy at the time told the CTK news agency that the escapees had each paid $1,500 to the smugglers but did not know to which country they were headed. AFP
About 30 Egyptian asylum-seekers flee Czech holding center
