By Hassan Isilow

JOHANNESBURG

South African police killed five armed robbers in a series of gun battles across a number of Durban suburbs on Monday.

A police spokeswoman told Anadolu Agency officers were fired upon in the coastal city after responding to calls that security guards transporting cash in an armored vehicle had been attacked.

Captain Nqobile Gwala said police were first fired upon in the Springfield Park area. One robber was killed in the initial exchange of fire.

Four more robbers were killed inside a getaway vehicle, a Mercedes Benz, but one escaped.

Police also arrested three suspects, one of whom was injured, and seized a number of firearms.

"We managed to recover the cash box," Captain Gwala told Anadolu Agency.

South Africa has one of the highest crime rates on the African continent, with cash-in-transit heists, business robberies and murders being some of the most common crimes.