Two bank robbers were killed after the explosive they were using to break into a safe blew up the whole building, police said. The explosion in Dinant, southern Belgium, destroyed half a banking office and severely damaged the rest.

Police said one of the men was buried beneath the rubble and the other died in hospital on Saturday a few hours after the attempted robbery. The safe was not opened. Authorities said the vault had built-in security to destroy the money inside if it was opened illegally. Even if it had been opened, the robbery would have been unlikely to yield anything.