Northern Territory police are searching for two teenagers who escaped from Alice Springs Youth Detention Center ahead of their planned transfer to Darwin.

Corrections Commissioner Matthew Varley said two 17-year-old boys climbed onto the roof around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, where officers tried to negotiate with them to get down safely.

“Soon after, the young people escaped from the area, using the materials they forcibly removed from the roof as a tool to protect themselves from the barbed wire while climbing over the fence,” the statement said.

NT police said they launched an “extensive” search for teenagers around Alice Springs using search dogs and drones.

Officers said they were investigating whether the youths had escaped in the stolen car, which was seen driving dangerously on Ilparpa Road later in the evening.

The incident comes a week after the government announced it would transfer all teenage detainees from Alice Springs to a new purpose-built youth detention facility in Darwin to make room for adult prisoners.

The measures form part of the government’s response to record overcrowding in NT prisons.

Transfers of youth detainees in Alice Springs are planned from December, after children and teenagers from Darwin’s Don Dale Youth Detention Center are moved to the new youth facility.

NT government blames Labor for prisoner escape

At a press conference on Wednesday, Prime Minister Finocchiaro blamed the previous government for the escape.

“The Labor government promised the Territory that a new youth justice facility in Alice Springs would cost the Territory $13 million,” he said.

“This has come out to nearly $40 million and just a few months after the facility opened, it can’t keep inmates here,” he said.

But justice campaigner and ex-convict Renae ‘Rocket’ Bretherton said she believed the escape was a predictable response to the government’s plan to move young prisoners 1,500 kilometers north to Darwin.

“These kids would be so worried,” he said.

“They have no idea what’s going to happen.”

More prisoner transfers planned

Last week the government announced it would convert the recently renovated Alice Springs youth detention center into an adult women’s prison as an interim measure before a new 150-bed facility is built.

About 36 adult female prisoners from Alice Springs were flown into Darwin’s adult prison at the weekend to make beds for male prisoners and ease pressure on police observation centres.

Following the transfer of young people detained in Alice Springs to the new facility in Darwin, these women will be sent to the Alice Springs Youth Detention Centre.

In response to safety concerns from the union representing NT prison guards, the Department of Corrections said it had implemented “restricted regimes” to ensure the safety of staff and prisoners “particularly at times when operational demands are high”.

“These measures may occur for a variety of operational reasons, including staff shortages due to increased inmate numbers,” the statement said. The statement was included.

In a statement, deputy opposition leader Dheran Young did not directly respond to whether Labor had accepted blame for the corrections crisis but called on the government to “stop making headlines”.

“Society also wants investment in factors that reduce crime in the first place, including education, routes to work and programs such as ‘Back on Track’,” he said.