TIRANA (Albania), April 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Security at the Albanian capital’s airport was under scrutiny on after a Hollywood-style robbery on its runway that left one gunman dead while his accomplices fled with millions of euros.
The armed men broke onto the runway of the Mother Theresa airport on Tuesday (Apr 9) afternoon and stole the cash destined for a bank in Vienna on an Austrian Airlines flight.
According to the initial investigation passengers were already aboard the Austrian Airlines flight when the group arrived on the runway.
The family of Admir Murataj, killed in a gunfight with the police, identified his body on Wednesday, local media reported.
Investigators say he was among four men who used a firefighters’ entry to access the runway.
Murataj, armed with an automatic rifle and a grenade, was killed in a shootout with the police on a nearby road.
The other gunmen managed to flee despite the deployment of special police backed by two helicopters.
They were in a stolen van bearing the logo of the tax authorities and carrying false license plates.
Heavily armed robbers, wearing masks and dressed in military fatigues carried out the heist in less than five minutes.
Police did not reveal the exact amount of stolen money, but Albanian media reports suggest at least US$2.8 million.
Foreign banks operating in Albania send their hard currency to Vienna because Albania’s central bank does not accept such deposits for security reasons.
In February 2017, robbers made off with 3.2 million euros, in June 2016 about 995,000 euros, while last year there were two similar attacks.
An Austrian Airlines spokeswoman earlier insisted the crew and passengers had not been in any danger but said that as a security measure there would be no further cash transfers from Tirana to Vienna. — NNN-AGENCIES
