Cape Town - A heavily armed gang hemmed in a cash van on the R300 and then opened fire on security guards in a daylight raid on the busy highway on Tuesday.
Police said a TransCash van was travelling along the road in the direction of Bellville at around 5pm. Just before the turnoff onto the N2, it was ambushed by four armed men who tried to rob the vehicle. Pictures show that a silver Audi and a white sedan had cut off the cash in transit van, leaving it stranded between the two cars.
“Several shots were fired,” said police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk.
The van was damaged, but the security guards inside were not hurt, said Van Wyk. The robbers then fled on foot, leaving their damaged vehicles abandoned on the street.
While details surrounding the incident are still being kept under wraps by the security company involved, it has emerged that the robbers may have been armed with automatic rifles and used them to shoot at guards in the van. It was unclear whether the guards in the vehicle had returned fire.
A user on the “Traffic fines, cameras and updates in the Western Cape” Facebook page, claiming to have witnessed the robbery, said the gunmen had been armed with AK47s.
A spokesman for TransCash, said he could confirm shots had been fired but could not say what weapons had been used.
The security company’s spokesman, who asked not to be identified, said the men inside the van were in shock.
When asked where the van was going, who it was transporting money for and how much was on board, he said: “I cannot give you private information.”
Police are now investigating the attempted heist. They had not made any arrests at the time of going to print.
City traffic services spokeswoman Maxine Jordaan said she had not been told of any road closures or traffic jams.
Meanwhile, a man is recovering in hospital after he was shot in an attempted hijacking on Tableview’s beachfront on Tuesday. Police said a woman and two of her friends were parked opposite Shell Road when they were approached by two men at around 7.20pm.
One of the men was armed with a small firearm. They demanded that the occupants of the vehicle hand over their money.
“The next moment a shot was fired and the suspects fled,” said Van Wyk.
They escaped with a handbag and a cellphone leaving behind a man bleeding from his chest where the bullet had struck. “(He) was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.”
Police are investigating a case of robbery and attempted murder.
Cape Argus