Several arrests have been made in Dublin after a bizarre attack on a Lidl supermarket during a snowstorm.
Video footage showed looters breaking into the supermarket in Tallaght and making off with goods from within, another video showed some of the looters ripping down part of the walls of the shop with a mechanical digger in what looks like an attempt to steal the store's safe.
An Irish police (Gardaí) spokesperson said that officers had attended the scene as well as a fire crew (although there was no fire found) and arrested several people.
One of the men arrested is thought to have been in charge of the digger at the time.
The spokesperson said: "We are aware of a number of incidents in the Tallaght Garda district. There have been a number of arrests.
"We would ask anyone with any information to contact Tallaght Garda Station."
The German supermarket have released a statement this morning saying that a serious incident had taken place, but no people were injured and the store had been closed at the time.
Their statement read: "We are aware of the very serious incident at our Fortunestown Lane store this evening.
"Given that the incident is now the subject of a criminal investigation we are not in a position to comment further at this time."
"As our store in Fortunestown Lane was closed when the incident occurred this evening, we can confirm no member of our team has been injured."
Dublin has been experiencing one of the worst snowstorms to hit the area in decades over the past few days and it is thought that the incident might have been planned by a gang in order to grab the opportunity created by the poor road conditions.
A source told The Irish Mirror: "A large, violent gang of well-known criminals targeted the Lidl earlier in the day and then stole the JCB excavator that was being used to clear ice.
"They took to the Lidl shop, having smashed into the property, and seized the safe.
"Earlier in the day, Gardaí had struggled to get to the scene rapidly due to impassable roads.
"The army were also deployed to assist Gardaí getting to the area due to the gang involved building snow barricades across the road and as the Gardaí who initially were in saloon cars were only able to get to the area."
It's safe to say that some of these guys might have dug themselves into quite a hole and are going to be in a Lidl bit of bother.
Topics: Ireland, News, lidl, dublin