An organized gang struck the southern city of Criciúma with guns and explosives, robbing a bank and briefly taking hostages. Hours later, Brazilians reported another gang robbery over 2,000 miles away.

The assailants arrived in the sleepy city in southern Brazil just before midnight ready for battle: They wore head coverings and body armor, and were armed with powerful rifles and loads of explosives.

Over nearly two hours, the gunmen held the city of Criciúma hostage, shattering the nighttime calm with explosions and volleys of gunfire. They used people as human shields while they detonated explosives at a bank, sending a plume of bills flying into the air, and shot at an overwhelmed police force.

“It was a surreal scene,” said Clésio Salvaro, the mayor of the city of about 220,000, said in a televised interview Tuesday morning. “The city was left in a state of panic.”

The audacious attack on Criciúma was the latest in Brazil to target a relatively small city with poor defenses, where security analysts say they have good odds of overpowering and dodging security forces that deal mainly with petty crime. Criminals have carried out a handful of similar attacks in such places this year, rather than in the metropolises where large, well-equipped police forces have experience battling violent crime and powerful gangs.

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Dozens engage in gun battle, torch vehicles, kidnap workers and blow up bank in Criciúma

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.

Clésio Salvaro, the mayor of Criciúma, told local media he first learned of the “surreal” offensive on social media just after midnight 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.”

The gang’s targets appeared to be local banks, at least one of which was reportedly blown up with explosives.

About two and a half hours after the assault began, the criminals disappeared into the night, driving south in a 10-vehicle convoy. During their escape large sums of money were left behind, with one social media video showing locals scrambling to collect the notes on the ground. The G1 website said four locals were arrested after being seen making off with 810,000 reais (£114,000) that had been abandoned when the criminals fled.