French police intensify seek for thieves behind Louvre’s daylight royal jewel heist

[ad_1] French police stepped up the hunt Tuesday for thieves who stole priceless royal jewels from the Louvre museum in a spectacular daylight theft.

Because the museum remained closed for a second day Monday, officers mentioned 60 investigators had been engaged on the speculation that an organised crime group was behind the raid through which 9 items of jewelry had been taken. A crown lined in additional than 1,300 diamonds was dropped within the streets of Paris because the robbers fled.

Detectives scoured video digital camera footage from across the Louvre in addition to of predominant highways out of Paris for indicators of the 4 robbers who escaped on scooters on Sunday morning.

"There are a whole lot of movies and this is without doubt one of the investigators' strains of labor," mentioned Inside Minister Laurent Nunez.

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<img fetchpriority="low" src="https://s.france24.com/media/display/6240cc7a-adf3-11f0-a7de-005056bf30b7/w:1280/p:16x9/EN-20251020-220319-220524-CS.jpg" srcset="https://s.france24.com/media/display/6240cc7a-adf3-11f0-a7de-005056bf30b7/w:388/p:16x9/EN-20251020-220319-220524-CS.jpg 388w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/6240cc7a-adf3-11f0-a7de-005056bf30b7/w:720/p:16x9/EN-20251020-220319-220524-CS.jpg 720w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/6240cc7a-adf3-11f0-a7de-005056bf30b7/w:1024/p:16x9/EN-20251020-220319-220524-CS.jpg 1024w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/6240cc7a-adf3-11f0-a7de-005056bf30b7/w:1280/p:16x9/EN-20251020-220319-220524-CS.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 639px) calc(100vw - 32px), (max-width: 1076px) calc(100vw - 44px), 850px" width="1280" height="720" alt="" loading="lazy" class="a-img "/> © France 24 However as upset vacationers rebooked tickets to the world's most visited museum, the heist -- which lasted simply seven minutes -- additionally reignited a row over the shortage of safety in French museums, after two different establishments had been hit final month.

Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin admitted to safety flaws on the Louvre.

"What is for certain is that we've failed, since individuals had been capable of park a furnishings hoist in the course of Paris, get individuals up it in a number of minutes to seize priceless jewels, giving France a horrible picture," he informed France Inter radio.

Nunez has ordered higher safety round cultural websites, his advisers mentioned.

A report by France's Courtroom of Auditors seen by AFP masking 2019 to 2024 factors to a "persistent" delay in safety upgrades on the Louvre. Solely a fourth of 1 wing was lined by video surveillance.

The thieves arrived at round 9:30 am (0730 GMT) on Sunday, half-hour after the museum opened.

They parked a truck with an extendable ladder, like these utilized by movers, under the museum's Apollo Gallery, clambering up and utilizing reducing gear to get via a window and open the show circumstances.

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<img fetchpriority="low" src="https://s.france24.com/media/display/31a488d0-adea-11f0-9486-005056bfb2b6/w:1280/p:16x9/EN-20251020-210447-211204-CS.jpg" srcset="https://s.france24.com/media/display/31a488d0-adea-11f0-9486-005056bfb2b6/w:388/p:16x9/EN-20251020-210447-211204-CS.jpg 388w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/31a488d0-adea-11f0-9486-005056bfb2b6/w:720/p:16x9/EN-20251020-210447-211204-CS.jpg 720w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/31a488d0-adea-11f0-9486-005056bfb2b6/w:1024/p:16x9/EN-20251020-210447-211204-CS.jpg 1024w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/31a488d0-adea-11f0-9486-005056bfb2b6/w:1280/p:16x9/EN-20251020-210447-211204-CS.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 639px) calc(100vw - 32px), (max-width: 1076px) calc(100vw - 44px), 850px" width="1280" height="720" alt="" loading="lazy" class="a-img "/> © France 24 The world-famous establishment, whose intensive collections embody the Mona Lisa, could not open once more till Wednesday, as it's normally shut on Tuesdays.

Queues of impatient guests had snaked their method throughout the museum's pyramid courtyard and underneath the tall arches of the primary entrance gallery, hoping to get in Monday.

US vacationer Jesslyn Ehlers, 38, and her husband rushed to rebook their tickets.

"We're simply form of upset. We have been planning this for a really very long time," she mentioned.

Carol Fuchs, one other US vacationer, had been standing in line for greater than three-quarters of an hour.

"The audacity, coming via a window," she informed AFP. "Will they ever be discovered? I doubt it. I feel it is lengthy gone," she mentioned.

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<img fetchpriority="low" src="https://s.france24.com/media/display/5568a404-ade5-11f0-8542-005056bfb2b6/w:1280/p:16x9/EN-20251020-203245-203446-CS.jpg" srcset="https://s.france24.com/media/display/5568a404-ade5-11f0-8542-005056bfb2b6/w:388/p:16x9/EN-20251020-203245-203446-CS.jpg 388w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/5568a404-ade5-11f0-8542-005056bfb2b6/w:720/p:16x9/EN-20251020-203245-203446-CS.jpg 720w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/5568a404-ade5-11f0-8542-005056bfb2b6/w:1024/p:16x9/EN-20251020-203245-203446-CS.jpg 1024w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/5568a404-ade5-11f0-8542-005056bfb2b6/w:1280/p:16x9/EN-20251020-203245-203446-CS.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 639px) calc(100vw - 32px), (max-width: 1076px) calc(100vw - 44px), 850px" width="1280" height="720" alt="" loading="lazy" class="a-img "/> © France 24 Diamonds, sapphires lacking The masked thieves dropped and broken the crown of Empress Eugenie, the spouse of Napoleon III, as they made their escape. It's lined in 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds, in response to the museum's web site.

However eight priceless gadgets of jewelry had been taken, in response to the tradition ministry.

The record they launched included an emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon I gave his spouse, Empress Marie-Louise.

Additionally stolen was a diadem that after belonged to the Empress Eugenie, which is dotted with practically 2,000 diamonds, and a necklace that after belonged to Marie-Amelie, the final queen of France. It's adorned with eight sapphires and 631 diamonds, in response to the Louvre's web site.

The loot can be unattainable to promote on in its present state, mentioned Alexandre Giquello, president of the public sale home Drouot.

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<img fetchpriority="low" src="https://s.france24.com/media/display/da0d6b5e-adb3-11f0-a89f-005056bfb2b6/w:1280/p:16x9/EN-20251020-140135-140305-CS.jpg" srcset="https://s.france24.com/media/display/da0d6b5e-adb3-11f0-a89f-005056bfb2b6/w:388/p:16x9/EN-20251020-140135-140305-CS.jpg 388w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/da0d6b5e-adb3-11f0-a89f-005056bfb2b6/w:720/p:16x9/EN-20251020-140135-140305-CS.jpg 720w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/da0d6b5e-adb3-11f0-a89f-005056bfb2b6/w:1024/p:16x9/EN-20251020-140135-140305-CS.jpg 1024w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/da0d6b5e-adb3-11f0-a89f-005056bfb2b6/w:1280/p:16x9/EN-20251020-140135-140305-CS.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 639px) calc(100vw - 32px), (max-width: 1076px) calc(100vw - 44px), 850px" width="1280" height="720" alt="" loading="lazy" class="a-img "/> © France 24 The raid -- which noticed some 2,000 individuals evacuated from the museum -- is assumed to have been carried out by an skilled workforce, probably "foreigners", Nunez has mentioned.

The intervention of museum employees compelled the thieves to flee, forsaking a number of the gear used within the raid, the tradition ministry mentioned.

It was the primary theft from the Louvre since 1998, when a portray by Camille Corot was stolen and by no means seen once more.

France's museums have beforehand come underneath criticism for poor safety, with many considered as being much less safe than banks and seemingly more and more focused by thieves.

Final month, criminals broke into Paris's Pure Historical past Museum, making off with gold samples price $700,000.

The identical month, thieves stole two dishes and a vase from a museum within the central metropolis of Limoges, the losses estimated at $7.6 million.