Samoa's (first) armed bank robbery

File photo / Greg Bowker

VAITELE, Samoa - Five men today carried out the first known case of an armed bank robbery in Samoa.

The incident, which took place at 9am at the Vaitele branch of the Westpac bank, saw four masked men and a driver arrive at the Westpac branch just after the arrival of staff into the office.

This is according to an eye witness who lives in the house next door, just a few meters from the bank branch.

"I saw the van park in front of the bank, and I noticed it did not have number plates, that aroused my suspicion," she said.

The men according to the eye witness went into the bank with what appeared to be a gun and a machete.

At that time of the morning only three cars were in front of the bank which is attached to a supermarket.

The eyewitness, a mid-twenties Samoan woman who did not want to be named said she saw the men carry in an empty bag and saw them walk out with what appeared to be stashes of money.

She said she called the police immediately but ran out of calling credits on her phone.

"I told them I saw knives and guns with masked men," she said.

Meanwhile, the three female staff of the Westpac bank were inside with the armed robbers.

The father of the witness ran over to the van as it was pulling out of the bank car park and hit the back window of the van with a bat.

The shards of glass are strewn all over the car park of the bank.

The witness said she called the police after another ten minutes and begged for them to come to the aid of the workers.

"The police did not turn up until 10am, a good hour after I called, and by then the deed was done and the robbers were gone," she said.

Police confirmed there was an incident this morning, but the spokesperson said that police were investigating the matter and they had no further information for the media.

The General Manager of Westpac Bank in Samoa, Jason Green, has yet to issue a statement and could not be reached in his office, however a public notice has been issued on local radio stations informing Westpac customers that the Vaitele branch is closed today and will resume normal business tomorrow.