KUALA LUMPUR: More than 100 Rohingya refugees escaped a detention centre in Perak after a riot broke out, with one man killed after being hit by a vehicle on the North-South Highway as he fled, police said Friday.

The Rohingya experience persecution in their predominantly Buddhist homeland in Myanmar, with many fleeing to Malaysia or refugee camps in Bangladesh.

They often endure harrowing, months-long sea journeys to arrive in Malaysia by boat, or sneak into the country via its porous border with Thailand.

If caught, they are often sent to detention centres that rights groups say are typically overcrowded and filthy.

A total of 115 Rohingya migrants and 16 others — all of them men — rioted in their detention building before escaping the Bidor temporary immigration depot in Perak late Thursday, Tapah district police chief Supt Mohd Naim Asnawi said.

Police and officers from other agencies are searching for the missing detainees, Naim said.

He said one unidentified refugee had been killed on the North-South Highway after being hit by a passing vehicle in the dark.

Police said the cause of the riot and breakout are under investigation.

More than 100,000 Rohingyas live on the margins of society in Malaysia, working illegally in construction and other low-paid jobs.