Police have confirmed no prisoners have been found in a tunnel that is believed to be have been used by four escapee inmates at the Kerobokan jail.

There had been fears that the men, including one Australian, may be stuck inside the muddied hole which had filled with water.

Police used a number of other prisoners to check the hole and establish that no–one was inside.

“So far our findings show that the hole goes all the way to the outside,” Captain Michael Hutabarat, chief of the Criminal Division of Badung Police, said.

A torch, clothes and a digging tool were earlier found inside the tunnel.

Australian man Shaun Davidson was among the group. He was due for release in August after serving a year for using another man’s passport.

It is understood Davidson was apprehensive about his release and deportation back to Australia.

He is due to appear in Perth’s Magistrates Court on pending drug possession charges.

Bulgarian Dimitir Nikoloen Iliev, Indian Sayed Muhammad Said and Malaysian Tee Kok Ming are also believed to have been involved in the escape plan.

Escapees’ whereabouts still unknown

The head of Bali’s correctional facilities, Surung Pasaribu, said authorities suspected the men had initially escaped their cells through the ceiling.

“We didn’t see them use the ceiling but we suspect so,” he said.

The 10 guards who were on duty have also been questioned, but Mr Pasaribu said it remained unclear whether any of the officers had been involved.

The torch was still on when it was found.

“The torch was inside the hole, after we dug it. It was found in the ground beneath the soil,” Mr Pasaribu said.

He insisted the prisoners did not have their passports.

The whereabouts of the men is still unknown, three days after it was noticed they were missing.

“When we checked the hole earlier, the hole goes all the way outside, but we’re going to do it again from inside the prison,” Captain Hutabarat said.

“So far we’ve just started from the middle.”

Foreign Correspondent filmed for more than a week in the overcrowded prison.

Built for just over 300 male prisoners, the jail holds around 1,300 inmates. At any given time there are usually just four guards patrolling on the ground. Four others are based in the watchtowers.

“Only God knows, I hope they’re all well,” Mr Pasaribu said when asked about the prisoners’ whereabouts.

-ABC