MANILA – Nine bodies, all of them shot in the head, were found in a bank in Laguna province yesterday in an apparent armed robbery, police said.

Bank clients alerted police when they found a bloodied body at the door of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. branch in Cabuyao, Laguna.

Police found the  bodies inside the bank, while one was in critical condition at a nearby hospital with a gunshot wound to the head, national police spokesman Nicanor Bartolome said in a statement.

Regional police chief Ricardo Padilla identified the fatalities as Roberto Castro, bank manager; Ma. Theresa Umayam, teller; Olga Gonzales, new accounts teller; Benjamin Lidao, junior teller; Bernardo Lapaan, customer's cashier; Noel Miranda, operational assistant; Juan Layva, janitor; Ferdinand Antonio, a client; and Aguilando Baltazar, security guard.

Police later recovered an abandoned vehicle at a nearby area which they believe the suspects used to escape, Chief Superintendent Bartolome said.

The crime took place at a light industrial park and the bank branch serves export-oriented electronics manufacturers.

Police believe the bank was attacked by robbers, possibly working with insiders, who fled at its usual opening time of 9 a.m. "This is not the handiwork of humans. This was perpetrated by animals," Padilla said.

All of them were shot in the head. Two of them were seen near the vault, Padilla also said.

Initial investigation showed that the robbers were able to cart away a still undetermined amount of money because the bank vault was open, he said.

Padilla said one of two security guards who were reported missing surfaced later in the day to clear his name. Their absence earlier in the day led authorities to suspect that they were involved in the robbery.

Police have erected roadblocks in the region and the identities of certain motorists are being checked, Bartolome said.*AFP

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