One person killed, one injured in robbery at BCI bank branch in Maputo

One person was killed and another was injured in a robbery at a Banco Comercial e de Investimentos (BCI) branch in Bairro do Fmento, Matola municipality, Maputo province, Mozambique police said on Friday.

The victims included a security guard who was fatally shot outside the agency and an employee who was wounded after being shot multiple times by a group of nine armed men, some of whom had AK-47 assault rifles, the head of the public relations department of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) in Maputo province.

The robbery took place in broad daylight on Thursday, when security guards from a private company who were trying to take money from the agency and transport it in an armored vehicle were caught off guard by several shots.

In total, the group took possession of approximately 17 million meticais (241 thousand euros) that were withdrawn from this BCI branch, most of which belonged to Caixa Geral de Depósitos.

Surveillance videos from the facility, a hub that houses several businesses, show the moment the group opened fire multiple times on the agency’s premises, fatally wounding a security guard and causing several people to flee, including an off-duty police officer.

“We are following our operational guidelines and I believe we will soon have clarity on the matter,” said Rodriguez Chambana, head of public relations for PRM.

This crime occurred after almost two months ago another armed group, under almost the same circumstances, robbed a car belonging to the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKD), which was transporting money in the center of the capital of Mozambique, stealing six million meticos (86 thousand euros).