SYDNEY: Australian authorities forcibly ended a two-day riot Tuesday at a migrant detention centre that left parts of it severely damaged, after police reinforcements poured in to overpower inmates reportedly armed with machetes and petrol bombs.
The additional police were sent to the remote Christmas Island facility after inmates started fires and apparently armed themselves in a protest triggered late Sunday by the unexplained death of a detainee.
"The department can confirm all areas of the Christmas Island Immigration Detention Facility are under the full and effective control of service providers and department staff," the Immigration Department said in a statement.
Five detainees were being treated for non-life threatening injuries or medical conditions but it was not known whether these were sustained during the disturbance or Tuesday's operation, it said.
The department said the operation to regain control of the centre, which is home to 203 asylum-seekers and non-citizens including hardened criminals, was largely achieved through negotiation. All detainees have been accounted for, it said.
"Some force was used with a core group of detainees who had built barricades and actively resisted attempts to secure compounds, including threatened use of weapons and improvised weapons," it added.
"A full survey of damage to the centre is yet to be completed, but some common areas appear to be severely damaged."
The disturbance at the Indian Ocean island centre began after an escaped asylum-seeker, named in Australian media as Iranian-Kurdish Fazel Chegeni, was found dead.
Reports said he was found at the base of a cliff and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said he was informed there were no suspicious circumstances, but the incident resulted in some detainees starting fires after guards fled.
Inmates have complained about their treatment at the facility on the Australian territory northwest of the mainland.
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