Thieves made off with valuables worth tens of millions of euros after drilling into a bank vault in Gelsenkirchen during the holiday lull, police said on Monday.
Around 2,700 customers were affected by the theft, authorities and Sparkasse confirmed. Police spokesperson Thomas Nowaczyk said investigators estimate the value of the stolen property to be between 10 million and 90 million euros ($11.7 million to $105.7 million).
According to the dpa, the incident could rank among the largest bank heists in Germany. The bank branch remained closed on Tuesday as nearly 200 customers gathered outside demanding access, the report said.
Police were alerted shortly before 4am on Monday after a fire alarm went off at the branch. Officers and firefighters who arrived at the scene found a hole drilled through a wall and the vault completely ransacked. Investigators believe a heavy-duty drill was used to breach the vault through the basement.
Witnesses told police they saw several men carrying large bags in a nearby parking garage over the weekend. Surveillance footage from the garage shows masked individuals inside a stolen vehicle in the early hours of Monday, police said.
Gelsenkirchen is located about 192 km northwest of Frankfurt.
