Robbers BLOW UP armoured van loaded with cash in daring heist on busy motorway

In a carefully planned operation the crooks forced the van to stop, shot out a tyre and set off explosives

Armed robbers with an arsenal of weapons went to extreme lengths to steal cash from an armoured van as it travelled along a busy motorway.

In a carefully planned heist the crooks forced the van to stop and then shot out one of its tyres before blowing up the vehicle with explosives.

The suspects then stole money from cash boxes and a gun from the two guards, who were forced out of the van before it was torn apart in the blast.

Witnesses said the chaotic scene looked like a "war zone", as drivers tried to flee a traffic jam after the explosion sent shredded pieces of metal flying into the air.

The blast was captured on camera by a driver as the raid occurred on a motorway in Johannesburg, South Africa, last Saturday.

The cash-in-transit van was travelling to the airport when it was intercepted by the bandits, who pulled up in BMW and Mercedes-Benz luxury cars.

After blowing up the van they fled with an undisclosed amount of cash that wasn't destroyed in the explosion.

Ambulance service spokesman Werner Vermaak told the Citizen that a member of the public suffered minor injuries when he was hit by debris from the explosion.

Witness Francina Maasz said: “We passed in the opposite direction when it happened. It was like a war zone, terrible to see.”

A police spokesman said the guards were not injured.

No one has been arrested.

It was not known how many suspects were involved in the heist.