Australian police have questioned detained immigrants today after a large part of the camp where they were being held was destroyed by a series of fires.
There were no casualties in the fires at the Baxter camp, built within an army complex near Port Augusta in South Australia state, but 10 people were treated for smoke inhalation.
Baxter was completed in July and is the latest camp to house the hundreds of illegal arrivals, mostly from the Middle East and Afghanistan, who have targeted Australia in recent years.
Hunger strikes, riots, escapes and suicide bids hit the Woomera camp in the South Australia desert earlier this year as asylum seekers protested against their detention, which can take months or even years as their asylum applications are processed.
The Baxter camp has a capacity of 1,200 but, according to government figures, currently houses 215 detainees - 146 men, 28 women and 41 children.
At least three fires broke out at the camp overnight and another started this morning, officials said. Australia's Immigration Department said eight detainees and two guards were treated for smoke inhalation after the overnight fires.
A total of 47 detainees had been evacuated to other parts of the camp after the first fires. today's fire started in a part of the camp to which they had been moved, officials said. The overnight fires destroyed 64 of 79 accommodation units within the Baxter camp, the seventh built for illegal arrivals.