Eight robbers armed with assault rifles were on the run in downtown Johannesburg on Monday after a failed cash-in-transit heist on the M2 East highway, police said.
A BMW rammed into the back of a cash-in-transit van on the freeway near the Village Road off ramp at 9.15am, said Captain Schalk Bornman.
The van rolled onto its side. The rest of the gang then pulled up at the scene in a white Volkswagen Polo and a white Nissan bakkie.
Three or four shots were fired, but no one was injured. Police later found spent cartridges from an assault rifle on the scene, but Bornman could not say exactly which weapon might have been used.
The robbers tried unsuccessfully to open the van and take the money. They fled empty-handed in the Polo and the bakkie, leaving the BMW behind.
The vehicles were later recovered by the police on Village Road near the corner of Main Road.
The gang is still at large.
Bornman said the three guards inside the van were not hurt, but were treated for shock at the scene by paramedics.
The Johannesburg serious and violent crimes unit was investigating.
The highway was closed to traffic while investigators combed the scene for clues.
Johannesburg metro police warned motorists to avoid the M1 north- and south-bound between the Selby and Booysens off- and on-ramps. – Sapa