Thieves drill into German bank vault and make off with millions
Burglars exploited Germany’s Christmas shutdown to break into a retail bank branch in western Germany, drilling through a reinforced concrete wall to reach the vault and looting customers’ safe deposit boxes of valuables worth at least 10 million euros, police said on Tuesday.
Investigators said the raid targeted a Sparkasse branch in Gelsenkirchen, where the intruders forced open several thousand boxes and escaped with what police described as a “double-digit million” haul.
The breach went undetected for days because many shops and banks closed from the evening of December 24, and the damage was only found after a fire alarm sounded in the early hours of Monday (December 29).
Dozens of customers gathered outside the branch on Tuesday (December 30), shouting “Let us in!” as they demanded answers.
One man told broadcaster Welt he had barely slept and had received no information, saying he had kept his retirement savings in the box for 25 years.
Another said his deposit box contained family cash and jewellery.
A spokesperson for Sparkasse in Gelsenkirchen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Police said witnesses reported seeing several men carrying large bags in the stairwell of a neighbouring parking garage on Saturday night.
Officers also received reports of a black Audi RS 6 leaving the garage early on Monday with masked occupants; police said the licence plate belonged to a car stolen in Hanover, more than 200 kilometres northeast of Gelsenkirchen.
Reuters
