Police have explained that some of those arrested managed to escape through a small hole in one of the walls of the detention center

The Philippine authorities reported on Thursday that thirteen people have escaped their custody after being tested positive for coronavirus while awaiting a second test, said the chief of police of the city of Caloocan in Manila, Colonel Dario Minor.

The thirteen fugitives were part of a group of 31 people who had been arrested for possession of illegal drugs and firearms. Although fifteen were initially able to escape, two of them were captured immediately, the Philippine press reports.

Police have explained that some of the detainees managed to escape through a small hole in one of the walls of the detention center. The escape has been recorded by security cameras, and images have been disseminated by the media.

So far, according to the latest figures from the authorities, the epidemiological situation in the Philippines is summed up in 362,243 cumulative cases and 6,747 deaths, thus being one of the regions of Southeast Asia with the highest incidence of the pandemic, alongside Indonesia