Two people were killed in a shootout at an airport in Chile as a group of thieves tried to steal over $32 million.
The shootout on Wednesday happened when roughly 10 heavily armed robbers made their way toward an aircraft from Miami, Florida. The plane had $32.5 million in cash on board that was being transferred to an armored truck on a runway at the Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport. Shooting broke out between the robbers and security officials, resulting in the deaths of one of the attempted robbers and Claudio Villar Rodriguez, 45, an employee of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, according to CBS.
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“The brave action by the DGAC officials frustrated the robbery,” said Interior Subsecretary Manuel Monsalve, who noted the robbers were “highly organized” and “very armed.”
The remaining robbers fled the scene, and two burned vehicles were also found nearby. The $32.5 million getting placed in the armored truck was intended to be distributed to several banks in Chile.
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“We will pursue … those who put the lives of our compatriots at risk,” Chilean President Gabriel Boric said.
The shootout at the airport comes after recent issues with air traffic in the United States. A single-engine plane crashed in Lavaca County, Texas, on Jan. 17, resulting in four people killed and one person injured. Only a few days earlier, two airplanes nearly collided with each other on a runway at New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on Jan. 13.
