German police responded to a hostage alarm at a Volksbank branch in the town of Sinzig, a community of about 17,000 people in the Rhine valley near Koblenz, on Friday morning. Authorities said they were alerted around 9 a.m. and initially believed there were several perpetrators and hostages inside, and that the driver of an armored van was among those held.
A heavy law-enforcement presence surrounded the bank for hours. Shortly before 3 p.m., special forces entered the building and freed two people from a locked room. Both were unharmed, police said.
When officers swept the premises, they found no hostage-takers. Investigators believe the perpetrator or perpetrators locked the two victims in the vault and left immediately afterward, but it was not clear how they escaped. Police did not indicate whether the assailants made away with any cash or other valuables.
The case remained under investigation, and authorities had not released further details about the two people who were freed.