Phnom Penh, Nov 8 (IANS): Seven inmates broke out of the Stung Treng Provincial Prison in Cambodia on Monday, a top police official has confirmed.

The seven inmates were serving their terms, ranging from four years to life imprisonment, for drug trafficking and theft, Major General Aun Sivutha, police chief of Stung Treng province, told Xinhua news agency.

"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 a.m.," Sivutha said.

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

In August, four inmates broke out of Southern Kandal Provincial Prison while guards locked them in a gym and they had broken through a fence, but they all were recaptured soon after the breakout.