- The hostage drama at the Volksbank branch in Sinzig is over.
- The two held hostages escaped unharmed.
- The perpetrator or perpetrators fled the scene “in an as yet unknown way”.
The hostage drama at the Volksbank branch in Sinzig in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate has ended, the police announced on Friday. The two hostages escaped unharmed, but the suspect escaped, TASR writes, according to reports from the DPA, AFP and AP agencies.
The police officers entered the bank branch around 3:00 p.m., but did not find the perpetrator there. Investigators believe that “immediately after locking the persons in the safe the perpetrator or perpetrators left the crime scene in an as yet unknown manner”.
The incident was reported to the police around 09:00. At the moment when the money transport vehicle arrived in front of the bank on Am Markt, an unknown man approached the driver and forced him to enter the bank. Police believed there were several armed offenders inside holding several other people, including bank employees. Sinzig lies approximately 20 kilometers northwest of Bonn on the lower reaches of the Ahr River.
