During the early hours of May 1, 1975, all the political prisoners at Prison VII staged an uprising and they quickly overpowered what was left of the South Vietnamese prison authorities. They set up a Provisional Committee to govern the island, and organised three platoon-sized units using captured weapons to march on the remnants of the ARVN. The political prisoners attacked the ARVN barracks at Bình Định Vuong, Camp IV and Camp V. The ARVN chose to run away instead of fighting back, whilst leaving large quantities of weapons and ammunition behind. Encouraged by the news of South Vietnam's capitulation, the prisoners continued their march towards the local police station which had already been abandoned by the South Vietnamese. By 8 am the prisoners had captured all former South Vietnamese infrastructure and assets, including 27 aircraft, as the remaining ARVN soldiers at the Côn Sơn airport also surrendered.