The Singapore Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has lodged a police report about a fake website bearing the PMO logo and announcing the death of former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, says The Strait Times of Singapore.

Screenshots of the website started circulating on Wednesday night, leading some foreign media outlets to carry reports of Mr Lee's death, only to retract them later.

The Straits Times checked with the PMO, which said no new information has been issued since an update on Wednesday afternoon that Mr. Lee was critically ill.

That PMO update drew crowds - including reporters from foreign news outlets - to the Singapore General Hospital (SGH), where Mr. Lee is in the Intensive Care Unit after being hospitalised on February 5 for severe pneumonia.

Foreign media that mistakenly reported Mr. Lee's death included CNN Breaking News and China's CCTV and Phoenix Chinese News.

CNN Breaking News said in a tweet shortly after 10pm that Mr. Lee had died, citing a "government website".

But 10 minutes later, it published another tweet: "Reports emerge that statement attributed to Singapore government about Lee Kuan Yew may not be official."