Locals were evacuated from the centre of Kerkdriel in Gelderland in the early hours of Monday morning as a major fire threatened to engulf shops and homes.

The fire was apparently started by a gang attempting to break open the mobile cash machine in a branch of The Read Shop, according to the Telegraaf.  The owner of the shop went to investigate when the gang attacked him and set the shop on fire.

The blaze was finally brought under control by 8.30 on Monday morning. The gang made off in a black Audi car but police have so far failed to track them down, despite the use of a helicopter.

The fire was so intense it spread to the building next door where a branch of the Kruidvat chemists chain is located. An elderly couple and several other people living in the block were taken to safety.

According to the shop owner’s son in the Gelderlander, his father has a collapsed lung and bruised or broken ribs after being hit on his back with something heavy. He is being treated in hospital.

Brand #kerkdriel #grip1 pic.twitter.com/4KF4j7Ghgr

— Wouter Greutink (@wgreutink) December 5, 2016