Holy Crow!

Europe hit by rise in brutal bank robberies

Banks in the European Union' are robbed at a rate of one every 90 minutes, according to a new report that also highlights the increasing brutality of raids.

The most worrying finding in the report concerns the rising brutality of the
raiders, who increasingly employ weapons such as explosives or resort to
kidnapping employees. Another cause for concern is the "increase and intensity
of violence in the attacks against security transports: organised gangs operating across borders use any means available to them, including heavy weapons and explosives," the report states.

The FBE report says that a total of 5,864 robberies took place in the 25 countries of the European Union, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland in 2004, the latest year for which figures are available. This means a slight increase compared to the previous year.

Who knew?