Fool's gold for failed vault thieves in Venezuela

Posted Mon Apr 25, 2011 7:29am AEST

Like a scene from a movie, 20 heavily armed robbers broke into the vault of a Russian gold company in eastern Venezuela yesterday but made off with no booty after they failed to open the safe.

"Twenty armed assailants broke in, seized control of workers in the mine and processing facility, and later cut open doors to the smelting area," Rusoro security chief Coronel Emilio Quesada told Globovision television.

"They did get into the storage area but they were unable to open the armoured security safes."

The incident took place in the gold mining town of El Callao, and the suspects fled the scene, authorities said.

Rusoro Mining has two mines in Bolivar state, and a joint venture with the government to exploit gold reserves elsewhere.

- AFP