Christmas bank thieves escape with €1m

Thieves broke into a Milan bank over the Christmas holiday and stole nearly €1m as well as jewels and other goods stashed in safety deposit boxes.

The robbers got into the Cariplo bank - located on the same piazza as the La Scala opera house - by lowering themselves from the building’s roof into an inner courtyard.

Once inside, they cut through a steel door with a high-powered blowtorch and knocked holes in two walls to get into the bank’s vault.

Milan police said nearly the euros, awaiting official circulation on January 1, had been snatched as well as items from private safety deposit boxes.

Bank workers discovered the theft this morning - their first day back on the job after a two day Christmas holiday.