4 sans-papiers who were detained at Paiaiseau CRA (detention centre), south west of Paris, escaped last night (16/12/12), reports Le Point.

According to sources, around 7pm on Sunday an officer was called by a detainee to the common room to sort out the TV reception. When he arrived, he was surrounded and knocked to the floor by 5 detainees. They took his magnetic badge which is used to access different parts of the CRA. While the officer was held down by one detainee, the 4 others went to the delivery area of the centre, climbed the fence and escaped.

The detainee who had helped the escape of the four has been placed into custody. Police and the gendarmarie are still searching for the four escapees  – an Algerian, a Romanian and 2 Tunisians.

The CRA of Palaiseau is a male-only centre with a  capacity of 40 places. In 2011 750 foreigners in ‘irregular situations’ were detained there, mostly Romanians, Tunisiens and Moroccans. It was renovated in 2011 and is surrounded by a 4.5m high fence with movement detectors and surveillance cameras.