Dramatic footage has emerged showing the moment in which at least 40 inmates broke free from a Brazilian jail, following an explosion through an external wall on Saturday3.

The video, which was circulated by the Folha de Pernambuco newspaper, shows a man entering the compound shortly before an explosion, which sends inmates running and tumbling over the smoking wall, before many turn back. Two inmates are also depicted running away outside the compound.

Gunfire was reported during the escape, killing two inmates, according to the newspaper, and leaving another hospitalized.

The incident took place at the Frei Damiao de Bozzano sector of the Curado Complex in the northeastern state of Pernambuco, just three days after 53 inmates broke out of another holding in Recife, also in the north of the country.

Thirty-six men were recaptured by the police in the hours following the explosion, with only one man, 32-year-old Kleber Jose de Araujo, still on the run, according to local news.

An investigation is underway into the circumstances of the explosion.