Around 600 predominantly Cuban migrants who all escaped from a southern Mexico immigration detention center on Thursday remain at large, officials at the facility say.

The center, in Tapachula, Chiapas state, was revealed to be holding 1,745 people at the time of the break-out, nearly double its maximum capacity.

Cuban migrants escaping their holding area into an area reserved for women, who were mostly Honduran, marked the beginning of the break-out.

A swell of commotion ensued and, among the chaos, migrants managed to gain access to other parts of the detention center before eventually bursting through a gate in the main entrance.

Immigration agents at the facility were unarmed and unable to intervene, according to officials.

Around 600 predominantly Cuban migrants who all escaped from a southern Mexico immigration detention center on Thursday remain at large

Hours after the mass escape, throngs of detained migrants raised their fists in the air Friday and chanted 'We want food! We want out!'

Only 35 of those who escaped have now returned to the facility. Those who remain at large will be black-listed from applying for Mexican residency, and will likely face immediate deportation when captured

Mexico's National Immigration Institute said in a statement that though they originally reported that 1,300 escapees fled on April 25, only 645 migrants actually had.

They added that 35 of those who escaped had now returned, but didn't offer any explanation as to why they suddenly lowered their forecasted figures.

Hours after the mass escape, throngs of detained migrants raised their fists in the air Friday and chanted 'We want food! We want out!'

It was the largest mass escape from a Mexican immigration center in memory and the latest example of how the government has become overloaded by a flood of Central American, Cuban and Haitian immigrants.

Residents of Tapachula, a city on Mexico's southern border with Guatemala, reported seeing hundreds of migrants running through the streets late Thursday, some only half dressed, some cramming themselves into passing minivans to escape.

Migrants are seen inside a van after being recaptured near the Siglo XXI immigrant detention center after a large group of Cubans, Haitians and Central Americans broke out

A Federal Police officer stands guard outside the immigration center, as armed forces scramble to round up the escaped migrants.

Officials from the center admit that workers were unable to intervene during the breakout because they weren't armed and were overrun (pictured: a security guard holds the door that was forced open by migrants at an immigration detention center)

Migrants await transfer from the center in a bid to ease overcrowding

Those with family members inside the Siglo XXI detention center said the escape arose from a dispute over food and sleeping space, both of which were in short supply in the overcrowded center.

Laisel Gómez Cabrera, a Cuban who now lives in Texas, was worried about his wife, Anisleidys Sosa Almeida, who has been held at the center for weeks.

On Friday, Gómez Cabrera stood outside the station - as he has most days since his wife was detained - trying to get information about her.

He said there had been a fight at the facility prior to the escape, and it was provoked by overcrowding.

'They made it so they had to fight among themselves for a place to lie down, to get a little bit of food,' Gómez Cabrera said.

A distraught Raisa Torres Espinosa was waiting for news of her daughter, Cynthia Barbara, 21, who was being held at the center along with her husband.

Both left Cuba recently, traveling through Panama and then overland to Mexico, where they were detained.

The break-out was the latest example of how the Mexican government has become overloaded by a flood of Central American, Cuban and Haitian immigrants (pictured: 396 men, women and children from various countries boarded a train as it pulled out of the town of Arriaga on Friday)

Residents of Tapachula, a city on Mexico's southern border with Guatemala, reported seeing hundreds of migrants running through the streets late Thursday. Another caravan of Central American migrants were in Juchitan, Oaxaca were pictured moving atop a train on Friday

Migrants who remain behind the centers walls say food and sleep are both in short supply, because of serious overcrowding

Torres Espinosa said her daughter had told her conditions at Siglo XXI, which means '21st century' in Spanish, were 'very bad' and had worsened in the last week.

'This week they have put 20 busloads of migrants, all of them, in there,' she said, motioning toward the metal gates.

Gómez Cabrera said she suspected authorities may have opened the gates Thursday night to let migrants flee as a way of reducing pressure on the system, knowing that those who left would no longer be allowed to apply for any kind of humanitarian visa, asylum or residence permit in Mexico.

'All the ones who left are going to get put on a red list,' Gómez Cabrera said. 'If they catch them again, they are going to be subject to automatic deportation.'

Buses arrived Thursday and Friday apparently to take women and children out of the overcrowded facility.

Federal police stand guard by a bus that will transfer migrants to another location on Thursday

Federal police were on hand to assist with the efforts, to deter further chaos

But while conditions may improve somewhat, the prospect of deportation drives the Cuban families to despair.

Carlos Labada, another Cuban who lives in the United States, said his father, mother and younger sister are all being held at the center.

'The girl is subjected to psychological torture. Every day (authorities) tell her, "We're going to deport you, we're going to deport you,"' Labada said. 'It would be like a living death' to be sent back to the island, he said.

Other Cubans said the government would deny work and education opportunities to those sent back.

In January 2017, the outgoing administration of U.S. President Barack Obama scrapped longstanding rules under which Cubans who reached American soil were automatically allowed to apply to remain.

The end of the so-called wet-foot, dry-foot policy means U.S. immigration authorities now treat Cubans more like immigrants from other countries, although Cubans still are more likely to be granted asylum.

Cubans also still retain the right to apply for residency after a year in the U.S., a privilege other nationalities do not receive.