Thieves exploited the Christmas holiday closure to drill into a German bank vault, stealing at least €10 million in cash and valuables from customers’ deposit boxes, police said.

Thieves used the quiet Christmas period to drill their way into the vault of a Sparkasse bank branch in the western German city of Gelsenkirchen, making off with money and valuables estimated in the double-digit millions of euros, police said on Tuesday.

According to police, the perpetrators drilled through a thick concrete wall before breaking into several thousand safe deposit boxes. Most shops and banks in Germany close from the evening of 24 December for the Christmas holidays.

The crime was discovered in the early hours of Monday, 29 December, after a fire alarm was triggered inside the building.

Dozens of angry customers gathered outside the bank branch on Tuesday, chanting “Let us in!” and demanding information.

“I couldn’t sleep last night. We’re getting no information,” one man told broadcaster Welt, saying he had stored his retirement savings in the deposit box for 25 years.

Another customer said he had kept cash and jewellery belonging to his family in the vault.

Police said witnesses reported seeing several men carrying large bags in the stairwell of a nearby car park on Saturday night.

There were also reports of a black Audi RS 6 leaving the car park early on Monday morning with masked men inside. Police said the vehicle’s licence plate matched that of a car reported stolen in Hanover, more than 200 kilometres north-east of Gelsenkirchen.

A spokesperson for Sparkasse Gelsenkirchen did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The investigation is ongoing.

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