Durban - A man hunt is still underway for the remaining robbers involved in the Cash In Transit heist in KwaMashu, north of Durban.
The incident happened outside the Bridge City Shopping Mall on Monday.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Brenda Muridili said a group of robbers engaged in a shootout with security guards of a cash vehicle at 1130 am
She said two of the robbers were shot dead.
She said the remaining robbers fled the scene in a minibus taxi.
"A hand gun and a rifle were recovered on the scene from the robbers. We do not know if any cash was taken,"Muridili said.
It is alleged that a gang of seven men tried to hold up CIT guards transferring money to their vehicle.
Muridili said it was an attempted robbery.
Pictures of the scene circulating on social media, showed a man on the floor wearing a balaclava and hand gloves with a rifle beside him. He has blood flowing from a wound under his balaclava.
He is also wearing blue jeans and a blue shirt and is laying on his stomach.
In the same picture another man is laying on the floor near the escalators also with blood around his body.
According to the PCCA-KZN Active WhatsApp group customers ducked for cover when gunshots rang out in the mall.
Several shops hit their panic buttons when the shootout occured.
Muridili wished the injured guard a speedy recovery
Gareth Naidoo a spokesperson for private security company KZN VIP Unit said paramedics treated one of the guards for multiple gunshot wounds at the scene before he was airlifted to hospital by a Netcare 911 helicopter.
"We stabilised the guard on the scene together with Gary Paul from Netcare 911. He was in a critical condition. There were multiple spent cartridges on the scene,"he said.
Naidoo said a bystander had been rushed to hospital. She was trampled when patrons of the mall panicked and began running in different directions.
Reacting to the news of the robbery on Facebook Mbalenhle Zungu said, "Thanks we living in fear because of these people our place is no longer safe."
Ricolyn Perumal said, "They fled in a quantum and they still couldn't catch them?"