Soran shop robbed of $2.5 million worth of gold jewellery

Kurdistan Region – A gold shop in the town of Soran northeast of Erbil was robbed on Friday. According to the shop owner, the losses in cash and gold total nearly $2.5 million dollars.

The burglars made off with 38 kilograms of gold and $300,000 in cash. They used household drills and jackhammers to tunnel underground and reach the gold shop's vault, breaking through the shop safe's meter-thick concrete and steel shelling.

Shop owner Kaifi has been left devastated by the heist. 

“It’s not that easy. As I have been working my entire life and now I lost everything, it’s a terrible feeling for me,” he told Rudaw.

The shop is not the only one to sell gold in the busy markets of Soran. Kaifi warns other shop owners in the market to be cautious.

”People who work in this town have to be afraid. It will happen again if the robbers are not revealed."

Although security cameras surveil the market, the robbers were able to dodge lens sight via the sewage pipes.

Soran Police spokesman Shamal Diwari told Rudaw on Saturday that investigation of the incident and search for the robbers is underway.

Reporting by Bakhtiyar Qadir