Germany : giant hole in a wall of a bank vault after robbery

Robbers used a large drill to break into a German savings bank's vault room and steal cash, gold and jewelry worth some 30 million euros, police said Tuesday.

The heist in the western city of Gelsenkirchen saw the thieves break into more than 3,000 safe deposit boxes, they said. According to police, the robbers drilled their way into the underground vault room of the Sparkasse savings bank from a parking garage. Investigators suspect the gang spent much of the weekend inside, breaking open the deposit boxes.

The break-in came to light after a fire alarm was triggered in the early hours of Monday and emergency services discovered the hole. Witnesses reported seeing several men carrying large bags in the stairwell of the parking garage during the night from Saturday to Sunday.