Hostage situation in German bank ended after more than five hours: no trace of perpetrator(s) even though building was surrounded | News

Members of the special police units have raided a bank in the German town of Sinzig. They only found two hostages locked in a room. There is no trace of the perpetrator(s). A large police force had been stationed around the building since 9 a.m. because a hostage situation was taking place.

The perpetrators are probably no longer near the bank, the police explain. It is not clear how they escaped.

However, nothing was left to chance. Special police units secured the entrances to the bank. Helicopters circled above the town.

There is currently no description yet. The two hostages will be interrogated, but first they must be properly received and cared for.

One of them was the driver of a cash transport. He got out at the Volksbank, but was overpowered.

Not much moved for a long time. Close neighbors were not allowed to leave their homes. “There is no danger to civilians outside the barrier,” police spokesperson Fachinger emphasized. Schoolchildren within a radius of 300 meters were picked up by their parents.

A negotiating team also arrived on site. However, there was never any contact with the perpetrators, the police now clarify.

Preparations were made in the parish hall to receive any victims. A spokesperson emphasized that this was a precautionary measure.

Flemish Leander (21) is staying at a campsite nearby. “I woke up to a lot of sirens,” he said. “I went to the highway with my plus-dad to walk the dogs. There we saw one police van after another passing by. When we returned to the campsite we heard what was really going on.”

Sinzig is located between Cologne and Koblenz in the western German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.