Police confirm: ATM blown up in Lucerne railway station

Lucerne railway station was closed down on early Tuesday morning: the reason for this was that an ATM machine had been blown up. A large contingent of police were on-site.

According to the police, there was a scuffle with two employees of a security company immediately before the robbers escaped, in which one person was slightly injured in the shoulder. The four alleged perpetrators fled on two motor scooters, according to the media release.

It is currently not possible to provide any information on the amount of money stolen or the damage caused. A manhunt was immediately started, but has so far been unsuccessful, and the Lucerne police are now looking for witnesses. The alleged perpetrators were four men, all of whom were darkly dressed and masked. They fled on two dark-coloured motor scooters in an unknown direction.

In addition to emergency services and specialists from the Lucerne police, members of the rescue service, the Fire Brigade of the City of Lucerne, the Fedpol, the Forensic Institute Zurich and the transport police were also deployed.

The perpetrators in action
They afterwards fled on motorcycles                                       Photos: ZVG / Lucerne police
Onlookers in front of lucerne train station.                         Photo: BRK News

Station was completely closed early in the morning
Lucerne station had to be completely closed for safety reasons, and some trains were cancelled. According to the police, the closure was largely lifted at 6.40 a.m., although Tracks 14 and 15 were still closed In the morning.

Explosives specialists called in
The first information was released by the Lucerne police at 6.00 a.m. It stated that the operation started around 3.00 a.m. in the early morning, and several different emergency forces were on site. It was at first unclear whether the explosion was due to explosives or gas, as PilatusToday reported. An automatic fire system had triggered an alarm during the night, and the Lucerne police had also received information from the transport police, said Christian Bertschi, media spokesman for the Lucerne police, to PilatusToday. "Our explosives specialists are on duty, together with colleagues from the Forensic Institute Zurich, who are clarifying what kind of substance it is," he added on early Tuesday morning.

Pictures had already indicated that there had been an incident with an ATM of the Bank Cler near one of the platforms.

Replacement buses were organised early in the morning for the cancelled trains, and the first tracks were re-opened at 6.45 a.m. The closure of the station was largely lifted around 7 a.m., although the areas around Tracks 14 and 15 were still closed at that time. The SBB tweeted shortly before 8 a.m. that the disruption at Lucerne station had been rectified. However, passengers would still have to reckon with delays or occasional train cancellations:

The police ask the local population for help:

• Dis you see anything suspicious in the area of the railway station?
• Can you provide any information about the unknown perpetrators?
• Did anyone see or hear anything during the escape of the unknown perpetrators on their motorcycles?
• Dis anyone notice the two dark-coloured motorcycles before the incident?

Anyone who can provide information about the robbery is asked to contact the Lucerne police on 041 248 81 17.