5 Arrested in Uruguay for trying to blow up ATM

Five people interrupted Monday while trying to blast open an automatic teller machine in the southern province of Canelones were apprehended by police, Uruguayan authorities said.

A sixth person who took part in the attempted heist in San Jacinto got away, the interior ministry said.

“The security systems activated in time to detect the attempt and to alert authorities, who arrived quickly and put the criminals to flight on Route 7 in a gray VW Gol sedan,” the ministry said in a statement.

Police pursued the suspects to the nearby town of Toledo, Canelones, where there was an exchange of gunfire before the would-be thieves abandoned the car and ran away.

An “intensive search” of the area resulted in the apprehension of five of the six suspects.

Three of those in custody have criminal records.

A search of the vehicle turned up three guns as well as an oxygen tank and hoses, the ministry said.