BERLIN

Robbers stole around €30 million (about $35 million) in cash and valuables during a break-in at the vault of a savings bank branch in the western city of Gelsenkirchen, media reports said Tuesday.

According to police, some 3,200 safe deposit boxes were broken into, affecting over 2,500 individuals.

The crime, discovered Monday night, is considered one of the biggest heists in German criminal history. Police are now following a concrete lead after witnesses reported seeing several men with large bags in the stairwell of an adjacent parking garage on Saturday night.

Police describe heist as 'highly professional'

Video footage from the parking garage showed a high-powered black car leaving the garage early Monday morning as police reported that masked individuals were sitting in the car, one of whom operated the exit barrier. The license plate on the vehicle had previously been stolen in the northern city of Hanover.

An unnamed police spokesman said the break-in was “actually very professional,” while adding, “A great deal of prior knowledge and criminal energy must have gone into planning and then carrying out this operation.”

According to initial findings, the thieves gained access to an archive room via a parking garage and several doors, where they used a special drill to break through a wall into the vault. Police secured evidence at the scene on Monday.

Angry customers try to storm bank building

On Tuesday, numerous angry people gathered again in front of the branch in the Buer district, wanting information.

The number of people waiting in the cold reportedly rose to around 200 people as the crowd chanted, “We want in, we want in!”

The situation threatened to escalate, with several people getting past security company employees and into the lobby of the bank as police were deployed at the entrance.