At least 14 people, including two children, were killed on Friday when a shootout broke out between police and bank robbers attempting to blow up ATMs, according to authorities in north-eastern Brazil.

Six hostages, among them two children, died in the shooting, local media reported, when police opened fire on the robbers at bank branches on the main street in Milagres in the interior of Ceará state.

“Six of the bandits died. We are working to identify the victims,” Kelia Jacome, the spokeswoman for the governor, said by telephone.

She said the attempted night-time robbery was interrupted by a police unit that had been tracking a gang responsible for similar bank robberies in the area, in which explosives were used to blow apart automatic teller machines.

The two attempted heists in the state of Ceará began around 2.30am in the downtown area of the city of Milagres, police said in a statement.

News portal G1 reported that the robbers blocked off a road into the downtown and took hostages as they began entering two banks on the same street. When police responded, a firefight ensued, leading to several deaths.

Lielson Macedo Landim, the mayor of Milagres, told G1 the hostages were killed by the criminal group and not by police gunfire. Macedo Landim said that five of the dead hostages belonged to the same family. Their car had been hijacked by the armed gang.

His account could not be immediately verified, as police did not respond to numerous email and phone requests for more information about the shootout or how the hostages died.

Two suspects were apprehended, and several fled, according to the police statement. Authorities also seized three vehicles, several firearms and explosives.

To search for the remaining would-be robbers, the city announced on its Facebook page that it was suspending public services and urged residents to remain in their homes.

Latin America’s largest nation routinely is the world leader in total annual homicides. Ceará is one of the country’s most violent states.