Customers pepper sprayed at B.C. bank

Unsuspecting customers of a bank branch in Burnaby, B.C., were pepper sprayed Monday by a brazen group of would-be robbers.

Customers of a bank in Burnaby, B.C., were pepper sprayed Monday by a group of would-be robbers. (CBC)

Police say a group of young men in their late teens entered the Scotiabank branch in the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby and used pepper spray in a bid to rob the bank.

A dozen employees and customers were hit with the chemical spray, forcing an evacuation of the building, said RCMP Cpl. Mark Humeny. All of the customers and employees received medical attention for the spray, which irritates mucus membranes.

"The air was contaminated in there,'' he said.

Police won't say if the assailants were masked or armed or whether they got away with any cash.

No one was injured in the attack.