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Yongah Hill detention centre tunnel video shows detainee digging up to 3m below surface

Brianna DuganThe West Australian
VideoReported footage of detainees digging a tunnel underneath the Yongah Hill detention centre in Northam.

Claustrophobic footage from inside a 20m-long escape tunnel found underneath the Yongah Hill detention centre has been released by a refugee advocacy group.

The eerie video, which shows two men struggling to fit into the tight compounds of the tunnel, provides a snapshot of the work put into digging the tunnel over a three-month period.

Using a phone flashlight, the person behind the camera shows just how deep the detainee managed to dig in his attempted escape plot.

Refugee Action Coalition spokesperson Ian Rintoul told The West Australian the tunnel was as deep as 3m into the earth beneath the detainee’s demountable room.

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The tunnel went undetected for several months until this morning when a guard was alerted to its creation.

A man who can be seen crouching down in the video seems to be inspecting its construction and innovation.

Mr Rintoul said it was unclear what tools were used in the making of the tunnel, but it was believed to have been constructed over a three-month period.

“The man had cut a hole in his demountable floor and just dug,” he said.

“There is about a 30cm gap between his floor and the ground which he has cut through and that’s how he made it to the ground.”

Mr Rintoul also confirmed the tunnel cleared the two inner fences of the detention centre and made it to within five metres of the outer perimeter fence.

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