Bank robbers armed with military-grade weapons have laid siege to a city in southern Brazil, torching vehicles, kidnapping government workers, blowing up a bank and engaging in a two-hour gun battle as the mayor begged residents to stay indoors.
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a convoy of luxury vehicles including Audis, Land Rovers and BMWs [] cruised into town carrying a platoon of masked raiders whose armoury included 50-calibre rifles capable of downing helicopters.
In their wake, the robbers left cash strewn across the streets. Residents soon spread out to snatch up the notes, television footage showed.
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Brazil has a long history of bank heists, and major lenders have struggled with a wave of violent robberies in recent years as criminals have mastered the use of explosives to access cash.
Police later located the attackers’ vehicles in a neighbouring municipality
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The brazen robbery resembles another that took place in July in the city of Botucatu, in Sao Paulo state. There, around 30 armed men blew up a bank branch, took residents hostage and exchanged gunfire with police officers before making their getaway.