Bank robber flees with cash given to him by authorities in Georgia

Police are on the hunt for the robber (Zurab Tsertsvadze/AP)

Police in the ex-Soviet republic of Georgia are hunting a bank robber who held more than 40 people hostage for hours before releasing them and escaping with the equivalent of €418,895 in cash given to him by authorities.

An armed man took bank employees and customers hostage in the town of Zugdidi in western Georgia on Wednesday and demanded the cash.