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Armed gang raids Swiss casino

An armed gang has raided a casino in the city of Basel and made off with hundreds of thousands of Swiss francs.

The prosecutor’s office said about ten masked men dressed in black arrived in two cars early Sunday and stormed the casino while 600 guests were inside.

One man smashed the front door with a sledgehammer while the others ran inside with machine guns and pistols, according to officials.

The men spoke French and ordered the guests and employees to the floor.

Some of the men entered the basement and emptied registers. They couldn’t get into the vault, despite firing shots at the locked door.

The statement said some guests and one security guard were slightly injured from being hit or stepped on.

Police from Switzerland and neighbouring France are trying to track down the men.

The casino is located little more than 200m from Switzerland’s northern border with France.

The incident recalls a heist on a poker tournament at hotel in the German capital, Berlin, on March 6.

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