Gang steals cash from plane on runway

PASSENGERS on a flight from Britain to Sweden looked on as masked gunmen robbed their plane in a dramatic runway incident.

The robbers made off with a "large sum" of foreign currency from the hold of the Scandinavian Airlines jet at Landvetter airport near Gothenburg after it flew in from London Heathrow.

Police said the airport was partially evacuated after the gang left a suspicious bag at the scene, believed to be a bomb. It was not clear how many of the passengers were from the UK.

The incident began at 12:30pm local time, when two cars, a Volvo and a Jeep Cherokee, smashed through gates at the airport in south-west Sweden.

At least five robbers armed with machine guns approached the plane. They then confronted luggage handlers as they were unloading crates of foreign currency from the hold, said a spokeswoman for Gothenburg police. She said the gang made off, leaving a bag on the runway with "antennae" sticking out of the top.