Hyatt hotel:a group of armed men stormed the hotel during a poker tournament
Masked gunmen stormed an upmarket hotel in Berlin on Sunday (NZT) and forced staff working at a poker tournament there to hand over money, police said.There was "a little panic" among guests during the hold-up at the Grand Hyatt in the central Potsdamer Platz square, during which some were slightly injured, a police spokesperson said.
He declined to confirm media reports said the gang got away with 800,000 euros ($NZ1.56 million)ackpot for the tournament stood at €1 million ($1.36 million), according to a European Poker Tour Web site. The EPT confirmed the heist on the event's blog in an official statement, saying there had been "an armed robbery executed by six men." It was unclear why the number differed from the police count.Olaf Wagner, a photographer for Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper, was in the hotel when the raid occurred.
He said: "I was at the entrance to the poker hall when they stormed in.I saw three masked men struggling with security personnel in the room where cash is exchanged for chips.
"I saw one of the men stuffing 500 euro notes into a backpack. A second pinned down a security guard with a machete to his chest.
"As they ran one of the security men pulled a robber to the ground. I couldn't decide if this was all a PR stunt or not; it seemed incredible to believe that it could be a real robbery in the heart of Berlin in daylight.
"I got my camera ready. As the security guard was on the floor a hotel page boy came along and took the bag he had been carrying.I saw next to the robber was his gun, a revolver.
"As they struggle the robber calls for help and the others return. One of them has an empty glass bottle he waves in the face of the security man. They force him to release their accomplice.
"Then I see them, unmasked, running into the tourist filled shopping centre. They left the hotel through the emergency exit."
The tournament organiser, the European Poker Tour (EPT), said the raiders had probably been attracted by the one-million-euro prize on offer to the winner of the event. They did not say how much was stolen.
A statement on their website called on anyone with photo or video footage of the robbery to hand it over to the police.
The tournament, which German tennis legend Boris Becker took part in earlier, resumed around four hours after the attack,
0 comments:
Post a Comment