Burglars tunnel into French bank vault

[FarCenter]

AFP - Burglars tunnelled into a Parisian bank vault and raided around 100 safety deposit boxes rented by private customers before making good their escape, investigators said Tuesday.

Police said identifying and putting a value on what was missing would be a long and difficult task, and that the gang appeared to have been equipped with sophisticated tools for what was otherwise a very traditional robbery.

They bust into the Credit Lyonnais (LCL) branch on Avenue de l'Opera, between the Louvre and the old Opera house in the heart of tourist Paris, late Saturday night by passing through ventilation pipes and tunnelling in from a neighbouring cellar.

The branch itself was closed for renovations, but a security guard who heard noises from the basement was confronted by three individuals, who overpowered him, lashed him to a chair and ordered him not to move.

Meanwhile, the gang used drills to cut a hole in the thick wall of the vault just large enough for some of them to squeeze through and ransack the safety deposit boxes of 125 clients, LCL said.

<SNIP>http://www.france24.com/en/20100330-burglars-tunnel-french-bank-vault-0

[Blue Owl]

1. The Red-Headed League strikes again!

n/t

[JustAnotherGen]

2. They must have been

Reading a Peter Mayle book. :rofl: It's one of his plots.