Five armed men broke into the branch of Banca Popolare di Novara on Viale Giuseppe Sirtori from an adjacent building, attacking and disarming a security guard and holding staff hostage.
The incident occurred at around 4:00 pm local time when the gang, wearing masks and wigs and carrying guns, broke in dressed as building workers through a hole in the wall of the adjacent garage.
The robbery attempt failed when the director of the bank, the only person present who knew the code to the vault, suddenly became ill.
The five men, all believed to be Italian, escaped via the same wall they broke in through shortly before police arrived at the scene.
The bank’s staff were left shaken but no one was injured in the incident.
A manhunt is now underway across Rome with the help of police helicopters.
With ANSA
