Robbers kill 5 employees at bank in eastern Ukraine

Robbers kill 5 employees at bank in eastern Ukraine

2011-12-30 12:34:26 GMT+7 (ICT)

DONETSK, UKRAINE (BNO NEWS) -- Five people were shot dead during a bank robbery in eastern Ukraine on late Thursday afternoon, officials said on early Friday morning.

The incident occurred at around 3:15 p.m. local time when a group of bank robbers entered a branch of the PrivatBank in the center of Donetsk, a city located in Ukraine's eastern Donets Basin region. "The attackers shot, in cold blood, five bank employees who died of their wounds at the scene," a spokesperson for the bank said.

Few details about the incident were immediately released, but PrivatBank chairman Alexander Dubilet said a reward of 1 million Hryvnia ($125,273) has been issued for a tip which leads to the arrest and conviction of the bank robbers. He said the families of the victims will also receive financial aid.

"We are shocked by this brutal crime and express our sincere condolences to the relatives of our employees who perished at the hands of bandits," Dubilet said. "We face such an atrocity for the first time in the bank's history, and we believe this crime will be solved as soon as possible and that the murderers will be punished."

It is the second deadly bank robbery in Ukraine this month, although it is not known if they are connected. Two masked men robbed a Credit Agricole branch on December 12, killing one person and injuring two others before making off with about $180,000 in various currencies.

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