Thieves Steal 30 Million Euros from Gelsenkirchen Bank Vault

Thieves drilled through a wall from an adjacent parking garage to breach the underground vault of a Sparkasse bank branch in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, stealing cash, gold and jewelry worth an estimated 30 million euros from more than 3,000 safe deposit boxes over the weekend. The break-in at the branch in the city's Buer district was discovered early Monday morning when a fire alarm alerted authorities, leaving around 2,700 customers affected by the loss of their valuables.

Police arrived at the scene shortly before 4 a.m. on Monday after the alarm sounded, finding a large hole in the vault's basement wall and the secure room ransacked. Investigators believe the robbers, whose number remains unknown, spent much of the weekend inside the facility, systematically prying open the boxes. Witnesses reported seeing several men carrying large bags through the stairwell of the nearby parking garage during the night from Saturday to Sunday. Security camera footage captured masked individuals in a stolen black Audi RS6 departing the garage early Monday, with the vehicle's license plate taken from Hanover earlier that week.

The heist occurred during a holiday lull, catching the bank off...