Two thieves who tried to blow up an ATM machine at a Hamilton shopping mall were armed with seven pipe bombs and were caught on camera, police say.
Two thieves who tried to blow up an ATM machine at a Hamilton shopping mall were armed with seven pipe bombs and were caught on camera, police say.
CCTV footage showed two suspects placing the bombs at the site, Hamilton City area commander Inspector Andrea McBeth told reporters this afternoon.
Police and a bomb disposal group were called in and roads around the Westfield Chartwell Shopping Centre were closed for several hours earlier today after police found several home-made explosive devices.
McBeth said a member of the public had reported what appeared to be pipe bombs.
Around 6.34am police were alerted, arriving minutes later and establishing a cordon, she said.
One of the pipe bombs had detonated, one had partly gone off and five others were recovered intact. The "unsophisticated" pipe bombs were small, about 13cm in length.
"This is nothing more than an attack on an ATM machine," McBeth said.
"We are confident there is no further risks to members of the public and this appears to be an isolated incident."
Two suspects had approached the ATM about 2.30am. After one pipe bomb detonated they had left when no cash was forthcoming, McBeth said.
McBeth said the thieves had demonstrated "incredibly dangerous behaviour".
Playing with explosives posed a risk to the individuals involved and to the public.
Police were not going to release a description of the two offenders at this stage, McBeth said.
"We are in the very early stages of our investigation."
'Targeted attempt' at ATM
"This appears to be a targeted attempt at damaging an ATM, located on the exterior wall of the shopping centre at its southern end," police said in a statement earlier today.
Photos of the partly damaged ATM show the bottom part of the machine blown apart and debris littering the ground below.
The rest of the money machine - including the screen, keypad and the green sleeve - remained intact.
Hamilton Mayor Paula Southgate said she was "shocked and disappointed" by what happened.
"Hamilton considers itself a relatively safe city so we're always disappointed when brazen acts like this occur.
He got up and went outside and didn't see anyone but did see a slight haze in the covered car park but thought it could have been the slightly misty morning weather.
