ATM bombers still on the run
Police are still looking for four armed ATM bombers involved in the bombing of a Capitec ATM inside a Caltex garage, at the weekend on Nelson Mandela and Willow Street.
Gopolang Chawane
Four ATM bombers remained on the run on Monday after blowing up an ATM at a Caltex filling station in Sunnyside at the weekend.
Owner and manager Daan De Bruyn said four armed men barged into the Caltex garage on corner Nelson Mandela drive and Willow street around 21:00.
They forced staff members and some customers to the floor.
“Three of our employees and two customers were forced into a corner,” said De Bruyn.
He said the men were heavily armed and were done in about 6 minutes.
De Bruyn believed the men knew what they were doing as one of them, who seemed like a bomb expert, bombed the ATM with enough explosives to gain entry into the ATM’s cash box.
“The men took the cases of money and fled the premises.”
He said police were alerted and arrived within 15 to 20 minutes.
“About 15-police cars were on the scene and the garage was cordoned off around 02:00.”
De Bruyn said the Caltex garage re-opened business on Sunday after cleaning up the ATM debris left behind.
The remaining evidence of the crime included a cracked garage window, a dented food-warmer and pieces of the bombed ATM.
Sunnyside police spokesperson Sergeant Asnath Malatsi said the bombing happened around 21:40.
“The four men were armed with rifles. They entered the garage convenience store and forced employees and customers to lie on the ground,” she said.
“The men had their faces covered with balaclavas and used explosives to bomb the Capitec ATM inside the shop.”
Malatsi said the men then removed the safe, containing an undisclosed amount of money, and fled the scene.
“The men fled the scene in a Silver Toyota Corolla with no registration plates,” she said.
No shots were fired and no one was injured during the bombing.
“The suspects are still at large and camera footage would be viewed to assist with the investigation,” Malatsi said.
Also read:
ATM bombing at Sunnyside petrol station
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