Shocking moment gang blow up armoured car after highway shootout with cops

The dramatic scenes unfolded on Italian highway 613 after the raiders used a flaming vehicle as a roadblock, forcing the armoured van to stop before blowing it open in an attempt to loot the contents

Shocking footage captures the moment a gang of armed thugs shoot it out with cops this morning as they tried to attack an armoured van on a busy highway by blowing up a vehicle and setting another ablaze as a roadblock.

An armoured van was attacked this morning, local news reports, on State Road 613 in Italy, which connects the cities of Lecce to Brindisi, in the region of Puglia, known as the ‘heel of Italy’.

The dramatic clip shows masked men armed with automatic weapons on the highway, believed to be gang members who reportedly going into a firefight with armed officers from the local Carabinieri police force.

Gunfire was exchanged as horrified motorists looked on, with a bullet fired by the bandits reportedly hitting the windshield of a police car.

The attackers reportedly began their assault by setting a vehicle ablaze in the middle of the motorway, to act as a roadblock.

The armoured van, owned by the security company BTV, was forced to stop to avoid the blazing vehicle, giving the crooks, who were using a vehicle with blue flashing lights, posing as an escort to the van, the chance to strike.

The video shows an explosion, the website of the Sardinian newspaper L’Unione Sarda reported that the blast was caused by the robbers breaking open the armoured van to steal the contents.

Motorists captured the dramatic scene on camera with a clip showing at least six people with their faces covered, some wearing white overalls and carrying weapons.

The would be robbers failed to loot the van before police arrived, with Carabinieri of the Lecce provincial command making two arrests near the scene.

Officers responding to reports of an Alfa Romeo travelling at high speed found the car abandoned in countryside and a man trying to make his escape on foot near the vehicle; he was arrested along with another gang member who had tried to flee on foot.

The bandits hail from the Foggia area, known in the news for being the birthplace of gangs specializing in armed robberies of armoured vehicles, Italian news outlet Sky TG24 reported.

Cops are said to be hunting at least two more gang members who got away.

Other members of the gang reportedly fled, allegedly car-jacking passing motorists and using the stolen vehicles to escape, according to L’Unione Sarda.

“The gang allegedly operated vehicles with flashing lights, disguised as civilian police vehicles,” L’Unione Sarda reported.

Sky TG24 also reports that the bandits used a blue Alfa Romeo with flashing lights to fool the security guards into believing they were there to escort the armoured van.

No injuries were reported following the gun fight.

The Puglia regional secretary general of Un Arma, Nicola Magno said: “Once again, the Carabinieri found themselves on the front lines of an extremely violent and organized criminal act.

“The fact that a patrol was hit by gunfire demonstrates the high level of risk to which our officers are exposed on a daily basis. It is only thanks to the professionalism, composure, and sense of duty of our colleagues that today we are not talking about a tragedy.”