FRANKFURT: A hostage situation at a German bank ended Friday after a special police unit freed two people unharmed from a vault, but the suspects escaped and are on the run, police said.
Officers entered the bank branch in the western town of Sinzig but there was no sign of any suspects, police said.
Investigators now believe that "immediately after locking the individuals in the vault, the perpetrator or perpetrators left the scene by means as yet unknown", they said in a statement.
The standoff began around 9:00 am local time, with the Bild newspaper reporting that suspects intercepted an armored van and threatened those inside the bank branch.
The driver of the cash transport van was among those locked up by the suspects, according to police.
An automatically triggered emergency alarm summoned police, who cordoned off the cobblestoned center of the town. A large contingent of rifle-wielding officers wearing helmets and ballistic vests surrounded the bank.
But it now appears the suspects may have already escaped by the time officers arrived.
A police spokesman told AFP at the scene that a search of adjoining buildings and the surrounding area had so far drawn a blank.
He added that the hunt for the suspects remains active, and the two people freed from inside the bank were receiving care. No description of the suspects was immediately available.
The small town of Sinzig is located just west of the Rhine River, roughly halfway between the cities of Bonn and Koblenz in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
In late 2025, a bank robbery took place in Gelsenkirchen, another city in western Germany, resulting in losses of €30 million, according to police.
