Tunnel-Drilling Gang Fails to Rob Paris Bank

Would-be thieves fail to reach safe-deposit room
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 5, 2010 5:13 PM CDT
Tunnel-Drilling Gang Fails to Rob Paris Bank
In this March 9, 2009 file photo, the BNP Paribas logo is seen at the headquarters of the French bank, in Paris.   (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere, File)

Would-be robbers tunneled into a Paris bank early yesterday morning but didn't actually manage to steal anything. In the third incident this year of "termite gangs" attempting to dig into bank vaults, the thieves used a pneumatic drill to connect a subway station to the basement of a BNP Paribas branch.

Once inside, they were unable to breach the safe-deposit room and started a fire to try to destroy the evidence. Two other "termite gangs" fared better earlier this year—tunnelers robbed private safes at a Credit Lyonnais branch last weekend and a Caisse d'Epargne location over New Year's, Reuters reports. Investigators don't know if the incidents are related. (More bank stories.)

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