Bank heist and gun battle shocks Brazil

WARNING: Video contains violent content not suitable for all viewers. Discretion is advised.

A town in southern Brazil lived through a "night of terror" stating late Monday according to the local mayor, after bank robbers detonated explosives and fired high-calibre weapons at police in an audacious heist that injured two people and left reams of cash in the streets to be pocketed by locals.

On Tuesday morning, charred remains of vehicles were in the streets of the southern city of Criciúma and bomb squads were securing the scene after the night's mayhem.

The robbery began just before midnight on Monday and lasted nearly two hours, according to a statement from military police in Santa Catarina state. Of the two people who were injured, one was a police officer.

Authorities have located 810,000 reais (US$152,660), police added. Local media reported that there were 30 robbers involved in the heist.

Brazil has a long history of bank heists, and major lenders have struggled with a wave of violent robberies in recent years as criminals have mastered the use of explosives to access cash.

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