article: The culprits behind the Hatton Garden raid may have carried out a similarly audacious burglary just two years earlier in Berlin, it has emerged. In a case which has strikingly similar traits to the £60m heist in London, thieves targeted 294 security vaults during a break-in at the Volksbank in Steglitz, Berlin, in January 2013. The gang, who fled the bank with diamonds, gold and silver worth more than £8.3m, have never been found. Scroll down for video . The culprits behind the Hatton Garden raid (pictured) may have carried out a similarly audacious burglary just two years earlier in Berlin, it has emerged . In a case which has strikingly similar traits to the £60m heist in London, thieves targeted 294 security vaults during a break-in at the Volksbank in Steglitz, Berlin, in January 2013 . It now appears that the Berlin heist bore all the hallmarks of the Easter weekend raid in London. During that near-identical raid - one of the biggest in London's jewellery quarter - 71 security boxes were raided before the gang made off with wheelie bins full of precious stones. The incidents - both of which involved the use of heavy duty drills - enthralled the nation, capturing the public's imagination with each new detail that emerged. During the Berlin theft, robbers are believed to have spent several weeks tunnelling 100ft underground, before drilling through 3ft of concrete walls to break into a bank's strongroom. Police were stumped when they discovered a giant hole cut through the wall with what appeared to be four cylindrical devices. Likewise, robbers in London used a heavy duty drill to bore holes into a reinforced, two-metre-thick wall so they could gain access to the safety deposit boxes. It came after the raiders broke into the building on the second floor, disabling the lift before lowering themselves down the shaft and breaking into the basement. Suspects caught on CCTV during the London heist were also dressed as construction workers - a tactic used in the Berlin raid . In a similar fashion to the German heist, the burglars timed their raid over the Easter bank holiday, entering after the premises emptied on Thursday night and leaving on Easter Sunday . The men then climbed back up to the ground floor to let other gang members in through a side entrance, before all making their way to the vaults where they drilled their way inside. In both cases, police are investigating the possibility of an insider helping the thieves. In London, there was no sign of a forced entry through the fire exit door into the company's premises, indicating they had a key or that someone had let them in from the inside. And in Berlin, police said the thieves had expert knowledge of the layout of the vaults, reiterated by the time they were afforded to create their all-important tunnel. Police later released this photo which they say is one of the suspects in the Berlin tunnel bank robbery . They also released these sketches showing who they believed had carried out the £8.3m raid. No-one has ever been convicted over the crime . Another similarity is the way the burglars disguised themselves before entering the building. The German thieves dressed as workmen and and waited until staff went home for the weekend to enter the bank. The tunnel was not discovered until 6am on the Monday morning when the robbers set fire to the impressive tunnel which breached one of the bank's walls. The robbers then simply used crowbars to smash open the safety deposit boxes. CCTV from the London heist also shows how the suspects dressed as construction workers and gasmen. Similarly, they timed their raid over the Easter bank holiday, entering after the premises emptied on Thursday night and leaving on Easter Sunday. Police investigating the Berlin theft were stumped when they discovered a giant hole cut through the wall with what appeared to be four cylindrical devices . The tunnel was not discovered until 6am on Monday morning when the robbers set fire to the impressive tunnel which breached one of the bank's walls . Meanwhile, in Berlin, police believe the robbers may have spent weeks digging the tunnel after renting a nearby lock-up garage under a false name, which they used to gain access to the strongroom. One of the theories behind the London jewel heist is that a member of the gang had rented a space within the premises. The Hatton Garden Safe Deposit company is housed in a seven-storey building, which accommodates 60 other businesses, including watch traders and diamond wholesalers. In another similarity, the Metropolitan Police were slammed as 'utterly incompetent' following the Hatton Garden raid as it emerged that an alarm going off on Good Friday was ignored. In Germany, private security guards were also blamed for ignoring an alarm which went off in the Volksbank's vaults two days before the crime was discovered. Robbers are believed to have spent several weeks tunnelling 100ft underground and through 3ft of concrete walls to break into a bank's strong room . Safety boxes remain open after the raid at Volksbank. Police believe the robbers may have spent weeks digging the tunnel after renting a nearby lock-up garage under a false name, which they used to gain access . Meanwhile criminologist Richard Hoskins said he has identified 'startling similarities' between the Hatton Garden raid and novel Black Echo, by Michael Connelly. The novel was based on real-life bank robbers dubbed 'The Hole In The Ground Gang' who struck three vaults in LA in 1986 and 1987, and were never caught. In the 1986 robbery, the gang tunneled into a bank vault over a long weekend, triggering alarms on the Friday that were not investigated, before raiding safety deposit boxes stored inside the vaults. It was not until the week following the raids that police were called and discovered the robbers had dug into the vault using heavy machinery, in very similar circumstances to the Hatton Garden raid. In both cases, heavy duty drills were used to break through concrete to gain access to the stolen goods . Value of items taken, including jewels, said to be between £60m and £200m. Raid took place over three-day Easter weekend when workers had left building. 71 safety deposit boxes raided. Burglars used heavy duty drill to bore holes into a reinforced, two-metre-thick wall so they could gain access to boxes. Thieves dressed as workmen and gasmen. Police criticised after alarm ignored on Good Friday. Value of items taken, including diamonds, gold and silver, said to be £8.3m. Raid took place after thieves accessed the building while it was closed for the weekend. 294 security vaults broken into. Burglars also used drill to break through 3ft of concrete walls to break into the bank's strong room. The thieves disguised themselves as workmen. Security guards criticised after alarm went off two days before tunnel found.
highlights: 71 security boxes were raided over Easter weekend in £60m London heist .
  In January 2013, 294 security vaults were targeted at Volksbank, Berlin .
  In both cases, gangs left with millions worth of diamonds, gold and silver .
  Both gangs used pneumatic drills on the vaults, while dressed as workmen .
  Police - who missed alarms during both raids - believe thefts could be 'inside jobs'
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