Eleven people are killed in Brazilian bank raid bloodbath

Family of five are killed after being taken hostage in botched Brazilian bank raid as six police officers are also shot dead in bloodbath that claimed 12 lives

  • The violence erupted in the city of Milagres, in the northeastern state of Ceara
  • Military police say the attempted heists began around 2.30am on Friday 
  • Robbers at one bank took several hostages when police surrounded the area 
  • A shootout lasting 20 minutes occurred, leaving several people dead inside 

A family of five and six policemen were among 12 people killed during two botched bank robberies in Brazil.  

Military police say the attempted heists began around 2.30am Friday in downtown Milagres, in the northeastern state of Ceara. 

A firefight broke out after police interrupted a gang trying to rob ATMs at two bank branches on the main street in Milagres.

Five hostages, including two children, died in the shootout.

A family of five and six policemen were among 12 people killed during two botched bank robberies in Brazil. Pictured, one of the scenes

Photographs taken by the Civil Police of Ceara show massive explosives seized by cops after a police shoot-out with the bank robbers in Milagres

Photographs taken by the Civil Police of Ceara show massive explosives seized by cops after a police shoot-out with the bank robbers in Milagres

‘Our preliminary information is that 12 people died, including six police officers,’ a spokeswoman for the state governor’s office said. 

The gang escaped in two vans without taking any money, G1 said. 

But two suspects have been arrested by police, broadcaster GloboNews reported.

They had reportedly broken into a family home – and one of them hid in a child’s bed and covered himself with a sheet – before they were apprehended, local media reported. 

Milagres Mayor Lielson Landim, told the G1 news website, that the family of five’s car had been hijacked on a nearby highway and taken into town by the armed gang. 

Two suspects were arrested by police after fleeing the scene of the botched robberies

Two suspects were arrested by police after fleeing the scene of the botched robberies

They had reportedly broken into a family home before they were apprehended. Pictured, one of the suspects after being caught

They had reportedly broken into a family home before they were apprehended. Pictured, one of the suspects after being caught

They had been on their way back from the airport to pick up two of the family members when it happened, according to local media.

Landim said two children, between 10 and 13 years old, were killed.  

The body of one bank robber was found in an abandoned vehicle by police, local media reports said.

Police were searching for gang members with the help of a helicopter, the mayor’s office said.

Various weapons and explosives were seized by the police. 

Latin America’s largest nation routinely is the world leader in total annual homicides. Ceara is one of the country’s most violent states.
 

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