Police have thrown out a dragnet for six gunmen after a dramatic cash-in-transit bombing in Rustenburg in the North West province on Saturday morning.

The gang – believed to be heavily armed – used two cars to force an armoured car to a halt before blowing open its safes with explosives.

Dramatic footage, shot by a passer-by in the wake of the bombing, shows a cash van and several other vehicles ablaze with a crowd of onlookers rushing to collect money on the roadway.

Police spokeswoman Col Katlego Mogale said that the armoured car and an escort vehicle were travelling on Bosch Street when a bakkie rammed into the convoy.

“Six suspects with automatic firearms jumped out of the vehicles and proceeded to blow open the van with explosives and took an undisclosed amount of cash,” she said.

“As they fled the scene, the men set fire to the vehicles they had used,” Mogale added.

She said that the men made their getaway in two Ford Rangers, one white and the other silver.

“Members of the public are further forewarned that harbouring criminals is a criminal offence, hence if found hiding or assisting these suspects in any way, they too would be guilty of a crime,” she said.

No one was injured in the heist and no arrests have yet been made.