Police detectives in Reenes, France are investigating the circumstances leading to the locking up of a 92-year-old woman, Germaine, in the vault of a bank in the town.
Rennes police commissioner, Pascal Serrand, who confirmed the development, said charges of negligence could be brought against some of the bank workers.
The nonagenarian was in the bank to use her safety deposit box when she was mistakenly locked in the vault for 23 hours.
The incident was published by Daily Mail.
Its account reads: “The pensioner was left sealed in the high security chamber in total darkness and without food or water, when the BNP bank in Rennes, western France, closed for the weekend.
“The woman was left alone by employees in the safety deposit room after she arrived at the bank at 11.30am on Saturday. Her son finally alerted police that his mother was missing at 7.30am on Sunday after his repeated attempts to contact her had failed.
“Police retraced her steps before tracking her down to the bank vault and releasing her at 10.30am on Sunday”.
Serrand was quoted by the newspaper: “Her son said he remembered she was going to the shops, the cemetery and the bank on the morning she disappeared. She had no mobile phone to locate her, so we retraced her movements and concluded she must still be in the bank. A manager arrived and opened the vault and we found her inside.
“She was tired and thirsty but otherwise in good shape and very polite, and very pleased we had found her.”
