Five robbers broke into a room on the second floor of a three-story building in a residential area in Guangzhou at 1 a.m. Sunday morning, but they were arrested after a female migrant worker upstairs reported to police.

Some 300,000-yuan (US$36,809) in cash was left untouched, reported the New Express yesterday.

The robbers, all armed with knives, sealed the mouths of four sleeping female migrants with tape, but they were too noisy, alerting the upstairs neighbor who called police from under her quilt.

The thieves tried to escape in different directions when they heard police over a loudspeaker demanding they surrender.

Within 15 minutes, the thieves escaped no farther than 150 meters before they were arrested.

Some male residents joined police to help catch the robbers. One of the thieves injured himself after jumping from the second floor and was sent to a hospital, according to the newspaper.

The taped and bound women all worked for a neighboring door store. They said the 300,000-yuan cash was supposed to be issued to store staff yesterday - their last working day before the Spring Festival, according to the report.

The case is under further investigation.

Editor: Yan