BERLIN: Robbers used a large drill to break into a German bank’s vault room during the extended Christmas break and steal cash, gold and jewellery worth 30 million euros (US$35 million), police and the bank said on Tuesday (Dec 30).
The spectacular heist in the western city of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia state, saw thieves smash open more than 3,000 safe deposit boxes and make off with the loot.
While the criminals remained at large, hundreds of distressed bank customers massed outside the branch on Tuesday, demanding information.
According to police, the robbers drilled their way into the underground vault room of the Sparkasse savings bank from a parking garage.
The bank said the branch was “broken into over the Christmas holidays” and that “more than 95 per cent of the 3,250 customer safe deposit boxes were broken into by unknown perpetrators”.
German businesses were closed for Christmas on Thursday and Friday last week, and investigators suspect the gang may have spent the holidays and weekend inside, breaking open the deposit boxes.
The robbery came to light after a fire alarm was triggered in the early hours of Monday, and emergency services discovered the hole.
Witnesses reported seeing several men carrying large bags in the stairwell of the parking garage during the night from Saturday to Sunday, police said.
Footage from security cameras showed a black Audi RS 6 leaving the parking garage early on Monday morning, with masked persons inside.
The car’s licence plate had been stolen earlier in the city of Hanover, police said.
