Thieves Tunnel Way into Berlin Bank

Bank robbers have pulled off a brazen heist in the German capital after digging a 30 meter-long (100-foot) tunnel leading into the bank's vault, police said Monday.

Once inside the Berliner Volksbank branch in the southwestern district of Steglitz they cracked open safety deposit boxes and managed to get away with an undisclosed amount, a police spokeswoman said.

The tunnel, which ran from an underground car park, was only discovered after residents spotted smoke coming from the car park early Monday and called the fire service.

The robbers are thought to have started a fire to cover their tracks, she said.

"The tunnel was professionally dug," the spokeswoman said, adding it had probably taken "a while" to construct.

In 1995 four robbers used a tunnel they had dug to get into a bank in the neighboring district of Zehlendorf and took 16 people hostage.

And an hours-long hostage drama in a Zehlendorf bank which began on December 21 ended peacefully.