Louvre thieves slipped away with seconds to spare, probe reveals

[ad_1] The thieves who stole crown jewels from the Louvre in October evaded police with simply 30 seconds to spare as a result of avoidable safety failures on the Paris museum, a damning investigation revealed on Wednesday.

The probe, ordered by the tradition ministry after the embarrassing daylight heist, revealed that solely one in every of two safety cameras was working close to the positioning the place the intruders broke in on the morning of Sunday October 19.

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Brokers within the safety management room didn't have sufficient screens to observe the pictures in real-time, whereas a scarcity of coordination meant police have been initially despatched to the incorrect place as soon as the alarm was raised, the report unveiled on the French Senate's Tradition Fee acknowledged.

"It highlights an total failure of the museum, in addition to its supervisory authority, to deal with safety points," the pinnacle of the fee, Laurent Lafon, mentioned initially of a listening to.

Probably the most startling revelations was that the robbers left solely 30 seconds earlier than police and personal safety guards arrived on the scene.

"Give or take 30 seconds, the Securitas (personal safety) guards or the cops in a automotive may have prevented the thieves from escaping," the pinnacle of the investigation, Noel Corbin, instructed senators.

He mentioned that measures resembling a contemporary CCTV system, extra resistant glass within the door lower open with angle grinders, or higher inside coordination may have prevented the lack of the jewels – price an estimated $102 million – which have nonetheless not been discovered.

Main safety vulnerabilities have been highlighted in a number of research seen by administration of the Louvre over the past decade, together with a 2019 audit by consultants on the jewelry firm Van Cleef & Arpels.

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Their findings harassed that the riverside balcony focused by the thieves was a weak level and might be simply reached with an extendable ladder – precisely what transpired within the heist.

'Shocked' Corbin confirmed that under-fire Louvre boss Laurence des Automobiles had not been conscious of the audit which was ordered by her predecessor, Jean-Luc Martinez.

"The suggestions weren't acted on and they might have enabled us to keep away from this theft," Corbin mentioned, including that there had been a scarcity of coordination between the 2 government-appointed directors.

Police imagine they've arrested all 4 intruders, who escaped on highly effective motorbikes, having carried out the heist within the Apollo Gallery in round 10 minutes in whole, in line with the investigation.

The revelations on Wednesday are prone to pile extra strain des Automobiles, the primary lady within the position who was appointed by President Emmanuel Macron in 2021.

Questions have swirled because the break-in over whether or not it was avoidable and why a nationwide treasure that's the world's most-visited museum gave the impression to be so poorly protected.

France's decrease home of parliament is finishing up its personal inquiry, whereas des Automobiles and Martinez are set to be grilled by senators subsequent week.

Final month, France's state auditor mentioned safety upgrades had been carried out at a "woefully insufficient tempo" and the museum had prioritised "high-profile and enticing operations" as a substitute of defending itself.

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Senior police officer Man Tubiana, a safety advisor on the tradition ministry who took half within the investigation, instructed senators he was "shocked" by what he had found on the museum.

"There was a succession of malfunctions that led to disaster however I by no means would have thought the Louvre may have so many malfunctions," he mentioned.

Workers on the Louvre at set to go on strike on Monday to demand administration act in opposition to what they see as understaffing and overcrowding on the museum, which welcomed 8.7 million individuals final 12 months.

On the weekend, the museum revealed {that a} water leak had broken 300 to 400 journals, books and paperwork within the Egyptian division in late November.