POLICE are hunting a gang of seven armed robbers who seized US$80,000, £505 and R126,000 in an early morning raid on a Barclays Bank branch in Bulawayo on Thursday.
The pistol-waving robbers swung into action moments after the bank in Donnington – along the road leading out to Plumtree -- opened its doors at 8.15AM, witnesses said.
A male bank employee was injured during the raid but is expected to recover, police spokesman Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena said.
He added: “The seven men who were all armed with pistols got to the bank soon after it had opened and disarmed the security guard who was manning the entrance.
“They went into the banking hall where they demanded and got money from the bank tellers before going into the branch manager’s office. They force-marched him to the safe where they got more money.”
Zimbabwe is in the grips of a wave of armed robberies on a scale not seen since the country’s independence in 1980.
Bulawayo police called a security meeting with business leaders on Friday morning to discuss strategies of thwarting robbers.
Bvudzijena said: “We have always called on banks and retail shops that handle large sums of money to revise their security strategies especially now with the dollarisation of the economy.
“We have, as the police force offered to assist such establishments with the vetting and training of their security personnel.”