Bank robbers armed with military-grade weapons have laid siege to a city in southern Brazil, torching vehicles, kidnapping government workers, blowing up a bank and engaging in a two-hour gun battle as the mayor begged residents to stay indoors.
Mobile phone footage taken by terrified residents showed gunmen patrolling the streets of Criciúma as gunfire echoed across the city.
After the ordeal, which lasted over two hours, the group made off, leaving hundreds of thousands of reais in banknotes littering the streets.
