Drug inmates break out of rehab center in Vietnam

More than 100 inmates escaped from at a drug rehabilitation center in southern Vietnam and police were searching for dozens still at large, state media reported Wednesday.

The 103 patients took advantage of the chaos caused by a brawl between fellow inmates Monday night to overpower guards and break through the fence at the facility in Pham Van Coi village, some 40 miles (70 kilometers) northwest of Ho Chi Minh City, the Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper reported.

Police recaptured nearly 50 inmates but were still searching for the others, the report said. Officials were not available for comment Wednesday.

Patients at Vietnam's drug rehabilitation centers are often sent by their families or by the government. Once at the centers they must stay for two years.

This mandatory time requirement has led to more than a dozen breakouts from the centers since 2001. Nearly 1,200 inmates escaped from the same center in 2005.

Officials have said that the rehabilitation programs _ which combine education, communist ideology and physical labor _ have a high failure rate, with more than 90 percent of patients relapsing within five years.