Tear gas used to quell unrest:
Asia
Australian police used tear gas to put down a two-day riot at a migrant detention centre Tuesday, where detainees, reportedly armed with machetes, chainsaws and petrol bombs, were running amok.
Reinforcements were sent to the remote Christmas Island facility after violence erupted and fires were set in a protest triggered late Sunday by the unexplained death of a man.
“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, while Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said the damage bill would be well over Aus $1 million ($700,000).
Police used tear gas and bean-bag rounds — designed to deliver an immobilising but not lethal blow — to subdue rioters.
“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,” the department said. (AFP)