NT Police investigating reports of mass breakout at Howard Springs

The three people who allegedly absconded from the Centre for National Resilience were all teenagers.

UPDATE: The three people who allegedly absconded from the Howard Springs quarantine facility were all teenagers from Binjari.

The 15, 16 and 17-year-olds have all tested negative against Covid-19 and are back in police custody.

All three are close contacts of a case from the remote community of Binjari, near Katherine.

“Rules are rules and there are consequences,” Chief Minister Michael Gunner said.

He said consequences may mean starting quarantine time again.

Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker said the three were found on the outskirts of Palmerston.

He said they tried to flee when they saw police but were ultimately brought into custody.

“These are young people,” he said.

He said police believed loneliness and isolation may have contributed to the trio fleeing the facility, given they were used to living in overcrowded housing rather than their own units.

“We cannot have human resources on every single access and egress point,” he said.

“It is highly serious. The preference clearly is that people stay in that facility.”

He urged anyone who needed support within the quarantine facility to contact staff at the centre.

UPDATE: THREE fugitives who escaped from the Howard Springs quarantine have been taken into custody.

NT Police confirmed the trio had been located and taken into custody.

NT Police alleged they scaled the fence and fled the Centre for National Resilience at 4.40am.

All three people tested negative for Covid-19 on Tuesday.

Police said inquiries were continuing.

UPDATE: A POLICE checkpoint to search through vehicles in locked in peak hour traffic near Howard Springs has been scaled back.

NT Police set up the checkpoint following the escape of three people from the Centre for National Resilience at 4.40am.

From 5am to 9am officers were searching every car and boot lined up at the corner of Howard Springs Rd and Whitewood Rd.

More than 100 cars were caught in the traffic jam caused by the inspections.

NT Police have not confirmed if the three escapees had been located by authorities, referring all inquiries to a government press conference with Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker later this morning.

Police said the trio scaled the fence and fled the centre this morning, with officers and staff working to confirming the absconders’ identities

UPDATE: POLICE are searching for three people who escaped from the Howard Springs quarantine facility this morning.

NT Police confirmed three people scaled the fence and fled the Centre for National Resilience at 4.40am.

It is unknown if the fugitives are international or domestic arrivals or close contacts connected to the Katherine cluster.

NT Police said officers and staff at the Centre for National Resilience were currently confirming the absconders’ identities.

A police roadblock at the corner of Howard Springs Rd and Whitewood Rd has caused massive traffic delays, with more than a 100 vehicles stuck in the peak hour queue.

Police are checking every car and boot at the inspection point.

There are six police units on scene, including marked and unmarked cars and paddy wagons.

More than 100 cars are lined up on Howard Springs Rd as police stop traffic in Howard Springs searching for a number of people who absconded from the Howard Springs quarantine facility overnight
Video: @idunnonewspic.twitter.com/9qBlbfACPN

— Phillippa Butt (@phillippabutt) November 30, 2021

EARLIER: A POLICE investigation is underway at the Howard Springs quarantine facility following reports several people absconded in the early hours of the morning.

Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services told the NT News the operation was ongoing and head checks were underway.

The number of individuals involved in the escape has yet to be confirmed.

It’s understood traffic is banked up as police conduct vehicle checks.

There are several hundred people staying in the Centre for National Resilience after many were taken to the facility from remote communities as the Territory’s biggest Covid outbreak occurs.

The incident is the second time in a week that a returned traveller has escaped from quarantine at Howard Springs.

Just last week a 27-year-old male allegedly absconded from the facility and was later found by police at a bar on Mitchell St.

In January, a 33-year old woman scaled the fence and walked off but was located by police within 15 minutes.

MORE TO COME