3 die as bank robbers strap hostages to getaway cars
ARMED robbers tied hostages to their getaway cars as they attacked three banks in a small Brazilian city, leaving at least three people dead.
The gang kidnapped ten civilians to use as human shields after firing machine guns at police during the terrifying raids in Araçatuba, about 300 miles from São Paulo.
It is the latest in a series of increasingly violent heists away from the major conurbations. Police said a Covid welfare programme for poorer Brazilians has led to smaller regional cities being targeted because banks are storing more cash.
More than 20 gunmen carried out the attack just after midnight on Monday. Alvaro Camilo, of São Paulo’s military police, said the attackers used drones to monitor the streets as they entered the city and hit the Banco de Brasil branches.
Afterwards the criminals strapped innocent bystanders to the roofs and bonnets of getaway cars, set fire to vehicles to block roads and scattered explosive devices across the city.
Mr Camilo urged people not to leave their houses until the bombs had been found and deactivated.
Two of the dead were hostages while one of the robbers was also killed.
A 25-year-old cyclist who accidentally activated one of the explosives needed his leg amputated.
One female hostage, who escaped, said: ‘They kidnapped me from my car. I had to beg for my life. I managed to run away, otherwise they would have killed me.’ Police used two helicopters to pursue the attackers.
Two people have been arrested. The amount of cash stolen was not revealed.