Thieves drill into a German bank vault and steal tens of millions of euros' worth of property

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GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany (AP) — Thieves stole tens of millions of euros' worth of property from safety deposit boxes inside a German bank vault that they drilled into Monday during the holiday lull, police said.

Some 2,700 bank customers were affected by the theft in Gelsenkirchen, police and the Sparkasse bank said. About 3,000 safety deposit boxes, which made up more than 95% of the bank’s inventory, were broken into.

Thomas Nowaczyk, a police spokesperson, said investigators believe the theft was worth between 10 million and 90 million euros ($11.7 million to $105.7 million).

German news agency dpa reported that the theft could be one of Germany's largest.

The bank remained closed Tuesday, when some 200 people showed up demanding to get inside, dpa reported.

Each safety deposit box is insured for 10,300 euros ($12,088) unless a bank customer additionally insures it privately, Sparkasse said on its website.

A fire alarm summoned police officers and firefighters to the bank branch shortly before 4 a.m. Monday. They found a hole in the wall and the vault ransacked. Police believe a large drill was used to break through the vault's basement wall.

Witnesses told investigators they saw several men carrying large bags in a nearby parking garage over the weekend. Video footage from the garage shows masked people inside a stolen vehicle early Monday, police said.

The fire alarm was also triggered Saturday but authorities did not find any damage.

Gelsenkirchen is about 192 kilometers (119 miles) northwest of Frankfurt.