As the western city of Gelsenkirchen in Germany was observing a quiet holiday period owing to Christmas and New Year celebrations, thieves ran away with
at least 10 million euros' worth of money and valuables from customers' deposit boxes, police said on Tuesday. As per the report in Reuters, thieves made a drill in bank's wall to loot the German retail bank vault. The perpetrators of the crime reportedly drilled through a thick concrete wall at a branch of Sparkasse bank and then broke into several thousand safe deposit boxes and stole a sum estimated in the double-digit millions of euros, the police said in a statement. Also Read - Louvre Museum's Long History of Theft: A Look At Its Most Infamous Heists, Including Mona Lisa Most shops and banks in Germany remain shut over the Christmas period from the evening of December 24, and police only discovered the breach after a fire alarm was triggered in the early hours of Monday, December 29. By Tuesday, dozens of angry customers gathered outside the bank branch, chanting “Let us in!” as they demanded answers. “I couldn't sleep last night. We're getting no information,” one man told broadcaster Welt while waiting outside the branch. He said he had used the safe deposit facility for 25 years and that it contained his retirement savings. Another customer said he kept cash and jewellery for his family in his deposit box. A spokesperson for Sparkasse bank in Gelsenkirchen did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Police said witnesses reported seeing several men carrying large bags through the stairwell of a nearby parking garage on Saturday night. Investigators also received reports of a black Audi RS 6 leaving the garage early on Monday morning with masked men inside. According to police, the vehicle was using licence plates from a car stolen in Hanover, more than 200 kilometres northeast of Gelsenkirchen. (*1 Euro = Rs 105.53)
