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Munich (dpa / lby) - Criminals were able to steal around 1.4 million euros when blowing up ATMs in Bavaria this year.

According to the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) in Munich, 18 machines were blown up, and money was ultimately stolen from eleven of them (as of mid-November).

Compared to 2019, the number of machines blown up is likely to be at a similar level.

According to the LKA, there had been 22 such acts in the past year, in which money was also stolen eleven times.

A clearance rate was initially not known.

The perpetrators were particularly active in Franconia in 2020.

According to the LKA, about three out of four explosions took place in Lower or Upper Franconia.

Overall, ATMs in rural areas were the goal.

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One approach has proven itself with the machine crackers this year.

In 15 of 18 cases, according to the LKA, the perpetrators had blown the machines with a gas mixture, in one case explosives had been used so far.

In the other explosions, the explosive could not be identified.

According to the LKA, the perpetrators always proceed similarly when detonating with a gas mixture: They first pry open the machine cover so that they can get to the safe with the cash boxes.

Gas is then introduced there using a hose and then ignited with a battery device such as that found on pasture fences.

In the meantime, the manufacturers of the machines have reacted and are offering more secure devices.

According to the LKA, there are ATMs on the market that can neutralize gas, for example, or have reinforced safeguards against being pried open.

"The respective banks decide whether ATMs with such security devices are purchased or retrofitted," said the LKA.

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ATM explosions cause a stir in Bavaria again and again.

Most recently, strangers blew up a machine in Sulzberg (Oberallgäu district, Swabia).

At the beginning of November, machine crackers captured around 100,000 euros in Zapfendorf (Bamberg district, Upper Franconia).

In Gochsheim in the district of Schweinfurt (Lower Franconia), after a machine was blown up in April, there was a chase between the perpetrators and the police, which also included shooting.

According to LKA 2019, around 15.2 million euros were stolen from ATMs across Germany.

The average loot was around 107,000 euros.

Federal situation report of the BKA on attacks on ATMs in recent years