Eleven prisoners have been shot dead following a mass jailbreak in Papua New Guinea and 36 others remain on the run, authorities said in a statement on Tuesday.

The detainees escaped from Buimo prison in the Pacific nation's second-biggest city Lae after rushing a gate when a sick prisoner was being moved for medical treatment.

The group overwhelmed a duty officer and attacked him with a knife before running from the prison compound.

Correctional Service Commissioner Stephen Pokanis said 11 prisoners were shot dead by guards and police during attempts to apprehend the group.

"We have updated our statistics, actually there are 47 prisoners [involved] - 11 dead and are at the Lae morgue, and 36 still at large," he told AFP on Tuesday.

It is at least the fourth mass prison break in Papua New Guinea in 2020. 

Sixteen inmates reportedly escaped from Buimo in January while 17 were shot dead during a breakout at the facility in 2017.

AFP