Asylum seekers escaped blaze

No one died in the inferno which destroyed the Government's flagship Yarl's Wood asylum detention centre, a five-month investigation into the blaze concluded today.

It was feared that at least five asylum seekers had been killed in the fire which completely destroyed one block of the centre in Bedfordshire in February.

But forensic science experts spent months sifting through 140 tonnes of rubble at the scene to find no evidence of human remains.

The conclusion means that 14 asylum seekers who are still missing are now regarded as being on the run. The Home Office said efforts to find them were continuing, while a further seven escapees had already been caught.