Two security guards driving an armored vehicle saved 200,000 euros in cash from literally going up in smoke in Thessaloniki yesterday after the van caught fire due to an engine problem, firefighters said.

The driver, aged 35, along with a second security guard, 48, had picked up the cash from a branch of Egnatia Bank and were transporting the money to the bank’s head offices.

Authorities said that a fire then broke out aboard the vehicle, shortly after midday, due to a leak in the engine’s fuel line.

The two security guards initially tried to put out the fire but then decided to unload the cash, which was locked in secure compartments, onto the street once they realized they would be unable to extinguish the blaze. The armored vehicle was completely destroyed, firefighters added.