Police are hunting for a gang of heistmen who attacked an armoured car near Nqutu in the northern reaches of KZN on Tuesday.

Sources with knowledge of the incident said that the gang had used three vehicles to to surround the cash-in-transit van as it travelled on the Nqutu to Dundee Road.

The armoured truck had been peppered with rifle fire and the driver had steered it from the road into the veld. The gang did not gain access to the truck and fled the scene.

Police spokesperson brigadier Vish Naidoo confirmed the foiled robbery on Tuesday morning. "The incident happened along the R68 between Dundee and Nqutu. A security vehicle with three occupants was transporting money from Dundee to Nqutu when they were attacked by a group of men who fired shots at the CIT vehicle‚ forcing the truck to leave the road."

He said a shootout ensued between the suspects and the guards and the suspects fled the scene in two vehicles‚ a white Toyota Hilux and a white Audi which was later found abandoned along the gravel road to Helpmekaar.

Naidoo said there were no reports of injuries and no money was taken.