POLICE are searching for six suspects who fled with an undisclosed amount of cash after bombing a safe at a service station in Birchleigh.
The bombing took place at 3am this morning at the Engen garage on Pretoria Road opposite Birchleigh Railway Station.
According to the owner of the garage, who wishes to stay anonymous, the CCTV footage shows the suspects arriving in a black BMW. They all wore balaclavas.
“The men tried to enter the shop but we lock the doors after 10pm for our workers’ safety. When they saw they couldn’t get in, they broke the glass with a hammer and entered forcefully,” explained the owner.
“It was a very organised operation. As we could see on the footage, each suspect had their own mission. Each one was in a different position while one of them assembled the bomb. Another suspect was outside telling the petrol attendants to lie down.
“The cashier and baker were inside the shop at the time and locked themselves in the storage room so they couldn’t be found.”
Fortunately no-one was injured.
“The whole robbery took about five minutes, and they were gone. I don’t think they got away with that much cash, because everything was blown to pieces.”
Heavy explosives were used to blow open the safe’s door, as the door shot through the cashier counter and travelled about four meters over the floor. The explosion also destroyed most of the cash inside making it look like confetti.
“This incident is going to cost us almost R300 000 but we’ll keep our heads high because we won’t give the devil the power. We’re still open for business and we’re still going on as usual,” said the owner.
Kempton Park SAPS were on the scene on Tuesday morning to take a statement and will investigate the incident further.
