Thieves broke into a German bank vault and stole property valued in tens of millions of euros during the holiday period, according to police reports. The heist, which impacted around 2,700 bank customers in Gelsenkirchen, a city approximately 190 kilometers northwest of Frankfurt, involved the burglary of over 3,000 safety deposit boxes, constituting more than 95% of the bank’s total inventory.
Authorities estimate the stolen goods to be valued between 10 million and 90 million euros (equivalent to $16 million to $144.8 million in Canadian dollars). The German news agency dpa suggested that this could potentially be one of the largest thefts in the country.
The bank premises remained closed the following day, with around 200 individuals seeking access, as reported by dpa. Each safety deposit box is covered under insurance for up to 10,300 euros ($16,575 in Canadian dollars) unless customers opt for additional private insurance, as stated on the Sparkasse bank’s website.
Emergency services were alerted by a fire alarm at the bank branch just before 4 a.m. on Monday, leading to the discovery of a breached wall and a looted vault. Investigators suspect that a substantial drill was utilized to penetrate the vault’s basement wall.
Eyewitnesses informed the authorities of observing several individuals carrying large bags in a nearby parking facility over the weekend. Police disclosed that video evidence from the garage revealed masked individuals inside a stolen vehicle in the early hours of Monday. Additionally, there was a prior activation of the fire alarm on Saturday, though no damage was found on that occasion.