Their releases came after migrant sex offender Hadush Kebatu, who arrived in the UK on a small boat, was mistakenly released from HMP Chelmsford in Essex late last month.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The vast majority of offenders released by mistake are quickly brought back to prison, and we will do everything we can to work with the police to capture the few still in the community.”
But there has been widespread criticism of the government’s handling of the issue.
The unaccounted prisoners reveal “the incompetence of this government”, shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said.
“It shouldn’t be left to reporters to uncover the facts. [Justice Secretary] David Lammy must finally come clean about how many prisoners have been accidentally released and how many are still at large.”
A spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats said “every resource” must go into finding the prisoners.
“This is a disgrace and an omnishambles. It shouldn’t have to take the media to inform the public that prisoners are at large after accidental release,” Jess Brown-Fuller said.
In a statement, Lammy said: “We inherited a prison system in crisis and I’m appalled at the rate of releases in error this is causing.
“I’m determined to grip this problem, but there is a mountain to climb which cannot be done overnight.
“That is why I have ordered new tough release checks, commissioned an independent investigation into systemic failures, and begun overhauling archaic paper-based systems still used in some prisons.”
