Robbers ran off with a bag of cakes instead of RM1.9 million in cash, in a botched heist that left a money changer shot and wounded.

In the second robbery to hit Malaysian airports this year, two masked gunmen fired 10 shots at a money changer at Penang airport, the Star daily reported.

Security guard Zainol Othman, who accompanied the money changer as he got out of a van and placed his personal bags on a trolley, told the paper he fled with the cash when the robbers attacked.

"I knew it was a robbery. The first thought that came to mind was to save the money," he told the Star .

"In the midst of the commotion, the robbers grabbed the money changer's bags, thinking that I had already placed the money bag onto the trolley," he said.

The newspaper said the thieves sped off in a getaway car with the bags, one of which contained mooncakes, a Chinese delicacy.

The money changer was sent to the hospital where he was in a stable condition.

In April, thieves escaped with more than one million dollars after attacking two money changers at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

- AFP