(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-10 15:09

KUALA LUMPUR -- Armed robbers shot six people in a three-minute heist at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and escaped with 1.5 million Singapore dollars (US$1.1 million) in Malaysia on Wednesday, local media reported on Thursday.

A worker cleans broken glass near a bullet hole after a robbery in the departure hall of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang outside Kuala Lumpur April 10, 2008. Malaysian thieves grabbed S$1.5 million ($1.04 million) in a raid at Kuala Lumpur international airport, spraying bullets and injuring six people, state media reported on Thursday. [Agencies]

In the 7:30 pm incident, two moneychangers were walking to Gate 8 of airport with the money and two security guards when six robbers alighted from a car and confronted them outside the gate.

The robbers, believed to be armed with two automatic pistols, shot at the legs of the four men, who collapsed, The Star said.

An off-duty lance corporal and a Nepalese worker who happened to be in the area were also shot in the legs.

One of the robbers then grabbed a bag containing the money, which was to be deposited at an outlet on the fifth floor of the airport complex, and they fled.

The guards opened fire at the getaway car, but did not manage to stop the robbers, which included a woman.

Police later found 40 bullet slugs on the floor, The Star said.

A bullet hole is seen after a robbery in the departure hall of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang outside Kuala Lumpur April 10, 2008. [Agencies]

The moneychangers and guards were seriously injured, Sepang District Police Chief Zahedi Ayob said.

"The robbers grabbed the bag containing the cash and fled in a vehicle believed to be a four-wheel drive.

"As the armed robbers were making their getaway, the two security guards fired at them but missed," The Star quoted him as saying.

The six victims were taken to a clinic in the airport and later rushed to a hospital.

It is learnt that one of the security guards is a policeman from the city police headquarters.

Police believed the robbers were involved in robbing a man later in Putrajaya, the administrative center of Malaysia.