Bank robbers drill hole in wall to steal millions from safety deposit boxes in Germany

Witnesses told investigators they saw several men carrying large bags in a nearby parking garage over the weekend

Thieves stole tens of millions of euros worth of property from safety deposit boxes inside a German bank vault that they drilled into on Monday during the holiday lull, police said.

A fire alarm summoned police officers and firefighters to the bank branch shortly before 4am on Monday.

They found a hole in the wall and the vault was ransacked. Police believe a large drill was used to break through the vault's basement wall.

Some 2,700 bank customers were affected by the theft in Gelsenkirchen, police and the Sparkasse bank said.

Police in Germany say thieves stole property from safety deposit boxes inside a bank vault that they drilled into during the holiday lull (DPA)

Police spokesperson Thomas Nowaczyk said investigators believe the theft was worth between €10 and €90m (£8.7m to £79m), which would make it one of Germany’s largest heists.

The bank remained closed Tuesday, when some 200 people showed up demanding to get inside, news agency dpa reported.

Witnesses told investigators they saw several men carrying large bags in a nearby parking garage over the weekend. Video footage from the garage shows masked people inside a stolen vehicle early Monday, police said.

Gelsenkirchen is about 192km northwest of Frankfurt.

This is not the first time Europe has seen a large robbery this year. The world’s most-visited museum experienced a stunning heist in October worth about $102m (£76m).

The Louvre in Paris saw robbers steal a diamond-and-emerald necklace Napoleon gave to Empress Marie-Louise, jewels tied to 19th-century Queens Marie-Amalie and Hortense, and a pearl-and-diamond tiara belonging to Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugénie.

Footage from museum cameras showed that the two who broke into the ornate Apollo Gallery used grinders to cut into jewellery display cases.

Investigators believe the theft was worth between €10 and €90m (£8.7m to £79m) (Police Gelsenkirchen)

The emerald-set imperial crown of Empress Eugénie, containing more than 1,300 diamonds, was later found outside the museum.

Thieves used a truck-mounted basket lift to access a window of the Apollo Gallery, escaping with the Crown Jewels within minutes.