Image copyright Reuters Image caption A wrecked car stood outside one of the banks targeted by the gang

At least five hostages, including a child, have died as armed police battled robbers who had tried to raid two banks in north-east Brazil.

Six other people also died in the gun battle in the city of Milagres, reports say. It is not clear if they were robbers or police officers.

The mayor of Milagres, in Ceara state, said the hostages were killed by their captors as police moved in.

Two suspected robbers were arrested, Brazilian media reported.

Four of the hostages, including the child, were all from the same family, city mayor Lielson Landim told Radio Band News.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption A wrecked car stood outside one of the banks targeted by the gang

According to initial reports, police surprised the robbers in the early hours of the morning and engaged them in a shootout. The gang then fled, reportedly grabbing the hostages on their way.

Mr Landim, quoted by Brazil's Globo newspaper, said the gang had blocked a road with a truck and seized the family from a vehicle that was forced to stop.

"The criminals killed the hostages and the police killed the criminals," he added.

However, a spokeswoman for the state governor said that 12 people had died, including six police officers.

Security officials said police had seized guns and explosives used by the gang. Three vehicles had been used in the attempted robberies on two bank branches, they added.</s>Eleven people — six bank robbers and five hostages, including a child — were killed Friday in a pre-dawn assault on two banks in northeast Brazil foiled by police, the local mayor said.

The violence erupted in the city of Milagres, in the northeastern state of Ceara, with a fierce pre-dawn shootout between the armed robbers and the police.

“Our information from the hospital is 11 victims killed — six bandits and five hostages,” the mayor of Milagres, Lielson Landin, told Radio Band News.</s>At least five hostages, including a child, have died as armed police battled robbers who had tried to raid two banks in north-east Brazil.

Six robbers also died when police engaged them in a gun battle in the city of Milagres, reports say.

The mayor of Milagres, in Ceara state, said the hostages were killed by their captors as police moved in.

Two suspected robbers were also arrested in the operation, Brazilian media reported.

Four of the hostages, including the child, were all from the same family, city mayor Lielson Landim told Radio Band News.

According to initial reports, police surprised the robbers in the early hours of the morning and engaged them in a shootout. The gang then fled, grabbing the hostages on their way.

Some media reports put the death toll at 13.

Mr Landim, quoted by Brazil's Globo newspaper, said the gang had blocked a road with a truck and seized the family from a vehicle that was forced to stop.

"The criminals killed the hostages and the police killed the criminals," he added.

Security officials said police had seized guns and explosives used by the gang. Three vehicles had been used in the attempted robberies on two bank branches, they added.</s>Brazil bank robbery: Five hostages and six robbers have been shot dead

Gunfire erupted in the city of Milagres, in the state of Ceara, when police were waiting as the robbers attempted to escape from the second bank. The gang was shot dead in a fierce shootout which lasted 20 minutes. Five people taken hostage were killed by the robbers, the mayor of Milagres said.

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Local media reports that four of the hostages were from the same family. One of the group was a child.

They were reportedly travelling to the nearby airport when the gang took them hostage while making their escape.

Mayor Lielson Landin told Radio Band News: "Our information from the hospital is 11 victims killed - six bandits and five hostages.”

Landin added that “the criminals killed the hostages, and police killed the criminals”.

Some Brazilian media reports put the total death toll as high as 13.</s>Eleven people -- six bank robbers and five hostages including a child -- were killed Friday in a pre-dawn assault on two banks in a northeast Brazilian city foiled by police, the local mayor said.

The violence erupted in the city of Milagres, in the northeastern state of Ceara, with a fierce pre-dawn shootout between the armed robbers and the police.

"Our information from the hospital is 11 victims killed -- six bandits and five hostages," the mayor of Milagres, Lielson Landin, told Radio Band News.

He said four of the hostages, including the child, were all from the same family. They had been grabbed by the fleeing robbers as they were going to the nearby airport to catch a flight.

Landin said that "the criminals killed the hostages and the police killed the criminals."

Some Brazilian media gave higher death tolls, of up to 13, and said the child killed was a 14-year-old boy.

The attempted robbery of the two banks occurred at 2:17 am (0417 GMT). When police arrived a shootout lasting 20 minutes ensued, reports said.

For the latest News & Live Updates on Election Results from each assembly constituency in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for updates.</s>Twelve people, including a number of hostages, have been killed in an attack on two banks in Brazil, an official has said.

Lielson Landin, mayor of the northeast city of Milagres, said six robbers had attacked the banks just after 2.00am on Friday.

What happened next is unclear but local reports said the robbers escaped without any money before hijacking a car on a nearby highway.

In the car was a local businessman and his family, including two children, who are believed to have been five of the hostages killed.

Details on the sixth hostage are unclear but it was thought that he had also been near the road.

The robbers reportedly killed the hostages when police approached.

After a shoot-out lasting about 20 minutes, the robbers were also killed, according to Mr Landin, who said that "the criminals killed the hostages and the police killed the criminals".

An unidentified resident told R7: "I could not sleep with the noise of the shots and I also could not leave the house to know what was happening.

The head of the Secretariat of Public Security and Social Defense Andre Costa told Diario de Nordeste that two people had been arrested.

He added: "We still do not know what happened.

"There was an exchange of shots.

"The preliminary information we received is that one of the criminals arrested ended up saying that he killed people who were in the place and were not of the gang."

He also said that it was too early to blame police for the deaths of the hostages, the newspaper reported.

Milagres is in the state of Ceara, which is one of Brazil's most violent.</s>RIO DE JANEIRO: Eleven people - six bank robbers and five hostages, including a child - were killed Friday (Dec 7) in a pre-dawn assault on two banks in northeast Brazil foiled by police, the local mayor said.

The violence erupted in the city of Milagres, in the northeastern state of Ceara, with a fierce pre-dawn shootout between the armed robbers and the police.

"Our information from the hospital is 11 victims killed - six bandits and five hostages," the mayor of Milagres, Lielson Landin, told Radio Band News.

He said four of the hostages, including the child, were all from the same family. They had been grabbed by the fleeing robbers as they were going to the nearby airport to catch a flight.

Landin said that "the criminals killed the hostages and the police killed the criminals."

Some Brazilian media gave higher death tolls, of up to 13, and said the child killed was a 14-year-old boy.

The attempted robbery of the two banks occurred at 2.17am local time. When police arrived, a shootout lasting 20 minutes ensued, reports said.</s>A bank hold-up in Brazil has left 11 people dead as police try to negotiate for the release of five hostages taken.

The hostage situation unfolded in he municipality of Milagres, Ceará, in the Cariri region.

Mayor Lielson Landin said six robbers launched the attack on two banks before dawn in the city.

The six were reportedly killed in a fierce shoot-out with police.

Five hostages were also killed, including a child.

The Military Police reportedly fired shots to contain the 'gang' involved in the incident, reports Correio Braziliense.

Residents are said to have reported "at least 10 minutes of shooting".

Local media report Milagres suffered an attempted attack the previous week, according to the director of the Banking Union of Ceará Gabriel Mota.

Police had already been investigating the gang involved in that attempted attack and intercepted the latest bank hit, Correio Braziliense reports.

The Municipal Government of Milagres has suspended all services in public office.

In a statement, they said: "The measure is taken in accordance with the guidelines of the Military Police command, which at that time has the support of CIOPAER helipcopters and a large number of police officers who are in the center and vicinity of the city, in the capture of bandits who have undertaken escape this morning."

The government are also advising residents to stay indoors until order is restored.

Images from the scene show smashed window and mangled equipment inside the building following the deadly shootout.</s>RIO DE JANEIRO -- At least 12 people, including two children, were killed Friday when police engaged in a shootout with bank robbers, according to authorities in northeastern Brazil. The two attempted heists in the state of Ceara began around 2:30 a.m. in the downtown area of the city of Milagres.

Robbers at one bank took several people hostage when police surrounded the area, according to a police statement. A firefight broke out, leaving several dead.

Authorities have yet to identify the dead. Two suspects were apprehended, according to police.

Milagres Mayor Lielson Macedo Landim told local media that two children, between 10 and 13 years old, were killed in the shooting. Landim told Radio Band News that four people taken hostage were all from the same family, according to AFP.

The four were taken hostage as the robbers were going to an airport, according to AFP. Landim told Globo newspaper that the family members were taken from a vehicle that was forced to stop because the robbers had blocked a road with a truck, according to BBC News.

Police did not immediately respond to email and phone requests for more information. Latin America's largest nation routinely is the world leader in total annual homicides.

Ceara is one of the country's most violent states.</s>Banco Do Brasil in Milagres was attacked in the early hours of the morning.

Banco Do Brasil in Milagres was attacked in the early hours of the morning.

TWELVE PEOPLE, INCLUDING six hostages, were killed in northeast Brazil after police foiled a gang of armed robbers staging a simultaneous predawn assault on two banks in the town of Milagres, officials said.

Five of the dead hostages were members of the same family and included two children, the local mayor, Lielson Landim, told the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper. They had been returning from a nearby airport when some of the robbers seized them.

The secretary for security in the state of Ceara, Andre Costa, said in a statement that an investigation was being carried out to identify all those killed and the circumstances of their deaths.

Costa did not say whose bullets killed the hostages. Landim had earlier said that, based on initial information, he understood that “the criminals killed the hostages and the police killed the criminals.”

“A heavily armed group arrived in the town in the early hours and went to the centre where they tried to commit the crime. There was an exchange of fire between the suspects and police,” according to Costa’s state security secretariat.

It said six gang members were killed and “another six people died from gunshots.”

Various weapons and explosives, as well as three vehicles used in the bank assaults, were recovered.

This handout photo released by the Civil Police of Ceara shows explosives seized by the police after a shootout with bank robbers, in Milagres. Source: AP/PA Images

The gang had launched a simultaneous assault on two banks on the same street in Milagres, population 28,000, shortly after 2.00 am local time.

According to the G1 news website, the robbers had blocked the street with a truck and stopped the car carrying the family, which included relatives who had just arrived on a flight from Sao Paulo to celebrate Christmas with them.

G1 reported that the robbers “executed” the hostages when police turned up to prevent their operation. It said some of the gang managed to escape.

“I’ve never seen anything like it. I stayed inside my home, cowering and afraid,” a local resident, Mendonca de Santa Helena, told media.

Shaken by the violence, the municipality of Milagres suspended most of its activities today and asked residents to stay at home “until order is restored.”

Brazil is one of the most violent countries in the world, suffering nearly 64,000 murders last year – a homicide rate of 30.8 per 100,000 inhabitants that is three times higher than the level the United Nations considers to be endemic violence.

On 1 January, a far-right politician promising a relentless crackdown on crime, Jair Bolsonaro, will become Brazil’s new president following his election in October.
Eleven people die, including five hostages, as armed police battle robbers who had tried to raid two banks in Milagres, Ceará, Brazil.