In the German town of Sinzig, a large police operation is underway due to the hostage crisis that broke out this morning around 9 o’clock in the Volksbank branch office. There are strong police forces on the ground, including special forces, and helicopters fly over the wider area, it says Bild.
The drama, as it turns out, started when an armored van for transporting money stopped in front of the bank. At the moment when one of the employees of the security company got out of the vehicle with the intention of entering the bank, he was intercepted and threatened by an unknown man. The kidnapper and the employee are reportedly now in the bank’s vault.
Police: The situation is stable
A police spokesman confirmed that there is an ongoing hostage crisis. “According to the current information, we believe that there are more criminals and hostages in the bank. One of the hostages is the driver of the money transport vehicle,” he said. The police also said that the situation on the ground is currently stable. “There is currently no danger for citizens outside the secured area,” they emphasized.
City center blocked
A large number of police officers are in front of the Volksbank branch, and the entire city center is cordoned off. The armored van is still parked in front of the bank entrance. Residents were urged to avoid the city center via social networks, and the police appealed to citizens not to spread false or unverified information.
Numerous unknowns
So far, there is no official information about exactly how many people are detained inside the bank, as well as whether the kidnappers are armed. In the meantime, rumors appeared on social networks that some of the perpetrators are already on the run, but the police have not yet commented on these claims.
For tactical reasons, the police spokesman refused to say exactly how many people were in the bank and how the police intended to act. He said that the police are very cautious when it comes to information, partly because “someone could be eavesdropping.” “We have to wait and see how the situation develops,” the spokesman said, announcing a full briefing later.
Sinzig is located in the lower valley of the Ahr River in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, about ten kilometers from the border with North Rhine-Westphalia. The nearest larger cities are Bonn, about twenty kilometers away, and Koblenz, about 30 kilometers away, he writes Index.hr.
(TYPE/Photo: Screenshot: X)
