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Armed gang steals hundreds of thousands in Swiss casino raid

An armed gang of about 10 masked men raided a casino in Basel stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to Swiss officials.

The prosecutor's office in the Swiss city said that the group, dressed in black, arrived in two cars at the Grand Casino near Basel, shortly after 4am.

One smashed the front door with a sledgehammer, and the others ran inside with machine guns and pistols, according to the statement. The group, who were speaking French, then ordered the guests and employees to the floor, while they emptied registers in the basement and upper floor.

Prosecutors said the group were unable to get into the strong room, despite shooting at the locked door.

"The criminals fired a number of shots, but luckily no one was hit," said the statement.

It said some guests and one security guard were lightly injured from being hit or stepped on, and that Swiss and French police were trying to track down the men.

Swiss police said the men fled the casino quickly, driving away in two silver Audis with French license plates.

A woman who accidentally drove between the two getaway cars and blocked the casino's exit was pulled from her vehicle and beaten, police said. They said it was possible that the men fired a shot at another car during their high-speed escape.

The Grand Casino is located little more than 200 metres from Switzerland's border with France.

Berlin Casino Robbery

All four of the original suspects in the European Poker Tour (EPT) Berlin armed robbery have now been apprehended, ending a more than week-long manhunt that spanned across both different countries and continents. Authorities had already apprehended two of the suspects in the crime, but were still searching for Jihad Chetwie and Mustafa Ucarkus. Over the weekend, both suspects turned themselves into police at the Berlin airport. Ucarkus was apprehended early Saturday afternoon after returning to Berlin from Istanbul and Chetwie was arrested later in the day after stepping off a plane coming in from Beirut.

Police also arrested a fifth suspect in connection with the robbery. The unnamed 28-year old Lebanese man is said by Berlin police to be the mastermind behind the crime and the driver of the getaway car. Though the police have apprehended all five suspects, they have yet to track down the €240,000 taken during the robbery.

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