Seven high-risk prisoners escaped from a jail in Cambodia allegedly by drilling a hole through a concrete wall. (Stills of escaped prisoners available from Newsflare news desk).

The inmates were serving sentences ranging from four years to life for drug trafficking and theft before they hatched a plan to flee the facility in Stung Treng province.

They allegedly stole tools from the prison workshop before sneaking over to the 12ft-high razor wire perimeter wall in the early hours of Monday morning.

Police said the group had an electric drill to smash through the wall while using prison bedding to muffle the sound at around 3 am in the morning.

Guards are said to have opened fire with three gunshots after noticing the jailbreak but the men escaped into the surrounding forests.

Officials are now hunting the seven fugitives amid fears they could be dangerous to locals living in surrounding villages.

Major General Aun Sivutha, the chief of police in Stung Treng province, said: 'They first escaped from their prison cell and then, they used tools and sticks taken from a workshop to make a hole in the prison's concrete wall and escaped shortly after 3:00 a.m. local time.

'When our guards saw them escaping, they gave chase and fired warning shots, but could not stop them. Currently, our authorities across the province are hunting for them.'

Major General Aun Sivutha said that six of the fugitives had been convicted for drugs offences, including one who was serving a life sentence. One of the men was convicted of robbery with violence.

He said that prison guards also found a wooden stick and iron bar left behind that the group had allegedly used to smash through the wall. They used a pillow and duvet to dampen the sound.

The police chief added: 'The prisoners escaped and they could be dangerous. Officers will keep searching for them until they are found.'

Earlier this year in August local media reported that four inmates escaped from the Southern Kandal Provincial Prison. They were reportedly locked in a gym but managed to flee through a broken fence before being recaptured.