As French investigators hunt for the suspects in Sunday’s brazen daytime jewel heist on the Louvre, a brand new video seems to indicate two of the thieves escaping from the museum.
Within the footage, two individuals are seen descending a basket elevate on the aspect of the museum as pedestrians stroll alongside the Seine. One is carrying a yellow vest and a black face protecting; the opposite is wearing all black and carrying a motorbike helmet.
In response to police, the thieves used the elevate to entry a balcony, the place they pressured open a window with an angle grinder and entered the museum’s Apollo Gallery, house to the historic assortment of crown jewels. The thieves then smashed two high-security show circumstances and grabbed eight objects — valued at over $100 million — earlier than fleeing on bikes. They had been contained in the museum for lower than 4 minutes.
One of many suspects tried to set fireplace to the truck they used to hold out the raid, however was stopped by a Louvre safety officer, officers stated. That confrontation was not captured within the video.
NBC Information reported Thursday that prosecutors discovered traces of DNA samples in a helmet and gloves discovered on the scene. But it surely was unclear if the DNA belonged to the suspects.
About 100 investigators at the moment are concerned within the probe into what French officers are calling “aggravated theft by an organized gang.”
The museum reopened on Wednesday, however the Apollo Gallery, the place Sunday’s theft occurred, remained closed.
Individuals queue exterior the Louvre in Paris on Monday. (Emma Da Silva/AP)
The Louvre heist has shocked France and put a highlight on safety protocols on the world’s most-visited museum.
The museum’s director, Laurence des Vehicles, instructed the French Senate on Wednesday she supplied to resign over the “horrible failure” in safety, however that French Minister of Tradition Rachida Dati refused to just accept it.
Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau stated earlier this week that the stolen jewels had been value an estimated 88 million euros, or $102 million — not together with their incalculable historic worth to France.
And consultants say it’s a race in opposition to time to get well the gems, that are prone to be minimize and offered in items.
“If these gems are damaged up and offered off,” Tobias Kormind, managing director of 77 Diamonds, a significant European diamond jeweler, stated in a press release, “they are going to, in impact, vanish from historical past and be misplaced to the world without end.”
