Thieves burn ATM machine after failing to carry it

Two masked thieves who managed to wrench a cash machine out of the wall in Saudi Arabia poured petrol and set it ablaze after failing to carry it away.

The two struggled in vain to load the massive machine on their car after succeeding in extracting it out of the wall, using their car, ropes and other tools.

The noise at dawn woke up the building supervisor in the southwestern town of Raniya, who shouted at the two thieves before he called the police.

“They clearly got mad after failing to carry the machine and were more furious when they were discovered…they just poured petrol and set it ablaze before fleeing the scene,” Sabq Arabic language daily said.

The paper quoted police as saying the ATM machine contained around SR1.25 million (Dh1.24 million) and that the two thieves were caught on camera. They added that they were searching for the car used in the failed operation to capture the burglars.

It was not clear if the money inside the machine was affected by the fire.