Hungary bank robbers kill six

Large-calibre automatic weapons were used, police say

Six people have been killed and two others seriously wounded during an armed robbery at a bank in Hungary.

It is one of the deadliest attacks to take place in the country in recent years.

A massive police search is under way

Two men burst into the branch of Austrian Erste Bank in the small town of Mor, some 60 kilometres (30 miles) west of Budapest, and opened fire before getting away with an unknown sum of money.

Three of the dead were identified as bank employees, one as a security guard and two others as customers.

The two wounded - a man and a woman - were bank clients.

"This is the most brutal attack I have known in 34 years of police work," national police chief Peter Orban told reporters.

"It was literally a slaughter, innocent bystanders were just executed," said a reporter for Hungarian television at the scene.

Getaway on foot

The two people critically wounded were rushed to hospital for surgery which continued into the evening, said emergency services spokesman Pal Gyoerfi.

The two assailants, who are believed to be aged between 20 and 25, escaped from the bank on foot. Police say the suspects are known for previous criminal activity.

Police have sealed off all roads around the town, and helicopters have been deployed to scan the area.

There is a reward of 10 million forints ($37,150) for information leading to their arrest.

Observers say this kind of violent hit-and-run attack is unprecedented in Hungary, which is one of the frontrunners for EU membership of the former communist countries of the eastern bloc.