Inmates dash for freedom after bomb blasts down prison wall

Footage of Monday's mass prison escape in Recife, Brazil shows a bomb ripping open an external wall and streams of prisoners scaling a three metre high razor wire fence and fleeing into the streets.

However the taste of freedom was brief for most of the 40 escapees, with authorities rounding up all but one lucky inmate after a wide ranging and fatal manhunt in the surrounding area.

Two men were killed during the escape following a shootout with police, the BBC reports.

Most prison escapes are elaborate, secretive affairs; not so the crude dash from Frei Damião de Bozzano jail.

The most alarming part of the footage, which emerged today, is the desperate rush of men clambering over a razor wire fence in order to reach the pierced perimeter wall.

Law enforcement authorities have now called for the closure of the penitentiary, arguing that authorities had no control inside or outside its divisions.

The prison system in the region of Pernambuco, where Recife is located, is thought to be under-funded, over-populated and buckling under pressure.

A 2015 Human Rights Watch study revealed that prison facilities designed for 10,500 inmates hold around 32,000 people.

The research found 59% of detainees are awaiting trial and are held alongside the convicted prisoner population, which contravenes Brazilian law.