Dublin  - An armed gang escaped with up to 6.2 million euros (7.9 million dollars) in a raid on an Irish bank in central Dublin after kidnapping an employee and family members, including a five- year-old girl, police said Friday.

The six-strong gang forced the worker into a central branch of the Bank of Ireland in Dublin as they held his girlfriend, her mother and her five-year-old granddaughter at gunpoint.

The bank official was taken from his home south-west of Dublin at gunpoint Thursday evening and forced to drive to the bank in the early hours of Friday, while the women and child were held hostage at an unknown location.

The employee, in his 20s, was forced to grab bags of cash from the vaults and dump them at a drop-off point before the women were released.

Irish police said the man was not injured but the two women and young child were badly traumatized by the ordeal.

Reports on Irish RTE radio and television network said questions were being asked Friday over security at the high-profile banking centre, and how one employee could have access to such large sums of money.

"All of the people involved have been released unharmed and Bank of Ireland is currently investigating the incident," a statement from the bank said. (dpa)