Police say German bank hostage-taking ends with no injuries

A dramatic hostage ordeal at a bank in western Germany ended with a special police unit freeing two people from a vault unharmed, but the suspects had already vanished and remained at large, police said.

When officers moved into the branch in Sinzig, they found no trace of the attackers, according to police.

Investigators now believe that “immediately after locking the individuals in the vault, the perpetrator or perpetrators left the scene by means as yet unknown”, authorities said in a statement.

The incident began at about 9am local time. Bild reported that the suspects intercepted an armoured van and threatened people inside the bank branch.

Police said the driver of the cash transport van was one of the two people shut inside the vault by the suspects.

An emergency alarm, triggered automatically, brought police to the scene, where officers sealed off the cobbled town centre. A heavy police presence, including rifle-carrying officers in helmets and ballistic vests, encircled the bank.

Authorities now say the suspects may have slipped away before police even arrived.

A police spokesman at the scene said searches of nearby buildings and the surrounding area had so far found nothing.

The hostage drama began around 9am local time

He said the manhunt was still under way and that the two people rescued from the bank were being cared for. Police did not immediately release any description of the suspects.

Sinzig, a small town in Rhineland-Palatinate, lies just west of the Rhine River, roughly midway between Bonn and Koblenz.

In late 2025, another bank robbery in western Germany — this time in Gelsenkirchen — led to losses of €30 million, police said.