Shortly before 6pm, three men managed to flee from a detention centre in Gävle in eastern Sweden where they were awaiting deportation after having had their asylum claims rejected.

“They somehow managed to open a window and then ran away,” said Gävleborg police spokesperson Daniel Mathsson to the TT news agency.

At just about the same time, three other men also awaiting deportation broke out of detention centre in Ljungaskog in southern Sweden.

The second trio reportedly came into the possession of a set of keys from one of the facility’s staff members and then ran out into the forest.

Police searched the area with dogs, but the men’s tracks ended near a road.

“They most likely had some help getting away, I suspect,” said Skåne police spokesperson Martin Carlsson to TT.