Bank robbers armed with military-grade weapons have laid siege to a city in southern Brazil, torching vehicles, kidnapping government workers, blowing up a bank and engaging in a two-hour gun battle as the mayor begged residents to stay indoors, the Guardian reported. Clésio Salvaro, the mayor of Criciúma, told local media he first learned of the “surreal” offensive on social media on Tuesday. Minutes earlier, a convoy of luxury vehicles including Audis, Land Rovers and BMWs had cruised into town carrying a platoon of masked raiders whose armoury included 50-calibre rifles capable of downing helicopters. As dozens of apparently highly trained gunmen swept through the city and shots rang out, Salvaro published a video plea to the city’s 220,000 residents. “At this moment the city remains under siege. This is an attack of large proportions, [involving] very well-trained criminals,” he said. “So, right now, the mayor of Criciúma is asking you to remain in your homes – do not go out. Be careful and shelter in your home ... Tell your relatives and friends that nobody must leave their homes. Let’s let the police do their job.” Geovânia de Sá, a local congresswoman, said “a situation of war” was unfolding in the city and one journalist compared the strike to a western film. The news website G1 called the attack “a dawn of terror”. Mobile phone videos shot by panicked residents offered a glimpse of the mayhem. In one, a female narrator sobs as she films armed men moving through the streets and shots echoing in the darkness. “For the love of God,” she can be heard saying. Mauricio Vefago, a local businessman, told the Band TV network he had locked himself inside his shop when the shooting began at about midnight. “It was practically the whole city. The sound of gunfire was coming from all sides,” he said.