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Robbers stole items worthy up to $105bn from safe-deposit boxes held astatine a German retail slope successful Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia state, during the Christmas holiday, German constabulary said connected Tuesday.
The German quality bureau dpa reported that it whitethorn fertile among the biggest thefts successful the country’s history.
What happened and what was stolen?
The thieves broke into a subdivision of Sparkasse slope successful the metropolis of Gelsenkirchen, successful North Rhine-Westphalia state, from an adjacent parking garage, according to the police, astatine immoderate constituent erstwhile businesses were closed for the Christmas holiday.
The German authorities is location to museums and Gothic architecture. Its capital, Dusseldorf, is known for its buying boulevard and the Rheinturm telecommunications tower.
Using a ample drill, the thieves bore done a heavy factual partition of the slope and gained entree to an underground vault room. Then, they forced unfastened immoderate 3,000 harmless deposit boxes, earlier making disconnected with cash, golden and jewellery.
A constabulary spokesperson likened the break-in to the movie, Ocean’s Eleven, and described it arsenic “very professionally executed”, according to the AFP quality agency.
“A large woody of anterior cognition and/or a large woody of transgression vigor indispensable person been progressive to program and transportation this out,” the spokesperson told the agency.
The slope said “more than 95 percent of the 3,250 lawsuit harmless deposit boxes were breached into by chartless perpetrators.”
Police accidental they were alerted to the robbery erstwhile a occurrence alarm went disconnected connected Monday, but person not confirmed precisely erstwhile the robbery took place.
How overmuch are the stolen items worth?
Investigators estimation the full worth of the stolen items to beryllium thing betwixt 10 and 90 cardinal euros ($11.8m and $105.7m), according to constabulary spokesperson Thomas Nowaczyk.
Police said the mean insured worth of each deposit container was much than 10,000 euros ($11,700). However, officers said respective victims person reported that the contents of their boxes were worthy importantly much than the insured amounts.
What bash we cognize astir the robbers?
No arrests person been made, and the thieves stay astatine large.
Security camera footage showed a achromatic Audi RS 6 leaving the bank’s parking store during the aboriginal hours of Monday, with masked radical inside.
The constabulary said the car’s licence sheet had been stolen earlier successful the metropolis of Hanover, astir 200km (124 miles) northeast of Gelsenkirchen, wherever the robbery took place.
How person slope customers reacted?
On Tuesday, aggravated customers rallied extracurricular the slope branch, demanding answers astir the robbery from the bank.
The constabulary spokesperson told AFP that the slope subdivision remained closed for information reasons aft threats were made against slope employees.
“We’re inactive connected site, keeping an oculus connected things,” AFP quoted the constabulary spokesperson arsenic saying, adding “the concern has calmed down considerably.”
How has the slope responded?
The slope is penning to notify each customers affected by the robbery. It besides acceptable up a lawsuit hotline for those affected.
It said it is besides moving with insurers to find however compensation claims volition beryllium handled.
“We are shocked,” said slope property spokesperson Frank Krallmann. “We are lasting by our customers and anticipation that the perpetrators volition beryllium caught.”
Which different important heists person happened recently?
October 2025: The Louvre, France
In precocious October, a pack of robbers broke into the Louvre Museum successful Paris and stole eight Napoleonic pieces of jewellery successful little than 7 minutes. The thieves made disconnected connected motorcycles laden with 8 items dating backmost to the Napoleonic era, dropping a ninth connected their mode out.
The stolen items of jewellery were estimated to beryllium worthy $102m.
So far, French authorities person arrested eight suspects implicit the Louvre heist.
The archetypal 4 suspects, 3 men and a woman, were arrested, formally investigated and charged.
The past 4 suspects taken into custody are 2 men aged 38 and 39, and 2 women aged 31 and 40, from the Paris area. They are being investigated arsenic imaginable accomplices. The names of the suspects arrested person not been made public.
September 2025: Museum of Natural History, France
On September 30, a 24-year-old Chinese pistillate was arrested successful Barcelona connected suspicion of stealing six golden nuggets from the National Museum of Natural History successful Paris. The golden nuggets were worthy astir 1.5 cardinal euros ($1.76m).
The pistillate was arrested portion trying to dispose of melted golden – it is unclear who melted it oregon how. The museum’s alarms and information strategy had been disabled successful a cyberattack, but it is besides unclear whether the thieves were besides down that cyberattack oregon whether the theft was opportunistic.
March 2024: Los Angeles currency site, United States
Thieves stole astatine slightest $30m successful currency from a GardaWorld installation successful Los Angeles implicit the Easter weekend.
GardaWorld is simply a planetary information institution which provides services specified arsenic facilities management, spot absorption and currency handling.
Local media called the heist 1 of the biggest currency heists successful LA history. There has not been a nationalist announcement indicating that the burglars person been caught.
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