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The four men had botched a robbery at the bank and seized dozens of employees and customers to avoid capture. -- PHOTO: AP
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ALTAGRACIA DE ORITUCO (Venezuela) - VENEZUELAN police swooped on an ambulance used by robbers escaping a bank siege on Tuesday, arresting four men and freeing a group of hostages held in the getaway vehicle.
The four men had botched a robbery at the bank in this sleepy central Venezuelan farming town early on Monday and seized dozens of employees and customers to avoid capture.
Hostages said as many as 60 people were held captive before the assailants negotiated an escape plan on Tuesday and sped away from the bank in a white ambulance with a small group of their captives.
State governor Eduardo Manuitt said the ambulance drove to the outskirts of the capital city Caracas before being surrounded by police, who pinned the robbers to the ground.
The four men, all in their twenties and carrying pistols and a hand grenade, had threatened to kill hostages if security forces stormed the bank or tried to storm the getaway vehicle.
It was not clear if the robbers had stolen money from the bank before boarding the ambulance.
The siege highlighted the scourge of crime across the Opec nation, which has one of the world's highest rates of gun-related deaths.
President Hugo Chavez has vowed to tackle the problem and warns his political allies that voters could back the opposition in elections this year if the government fails to make headway.
The hostages freed from the bank included a pregnant woman, an infant and several other child captives. None were wounded, although a few were carried away on stretchers and more than 20 were taken to the hospital for check-ups. -- REUTERS
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