New Footage Of Louvre Heist Shows Suspects Allegedly Escaping With Jewels
New footage of Sunday’s shocking robbery at the Louvre shows two suspects escaping in broad daylight using a slow-moving elevator with what are assumed to be France’s most valuable jewels.
Images circulating on social media It was revealed on Thursday that two men used a truck-mounted basket lift to slowly lower themselves from the balcony they allegedly used to reach the museum’s gilded Apollo Gallery, where the royal jewels are displayed. One person is seen wearing a high-vis vest and the other is seen wearing a motorcycle helmet.
The video does not show individuals reaching the ground because fences blocked them, but earlier news reports said they left the area on electric scooters. In the footage, museum guards were heard swearing and expressing disappointment that the suspects escaped.
In about seven minutes, individuals successfully broke into the world’s most popular museum, stole eight crown jewels worth an estimated $102 million, and managed to escape from view. Four days later, efforts are continuing to capture the suspects and the jewels.
Tobias Kormind, managing director of European jeweler 77 Diamonds, told the Associated Press: “It is extremely unlikely that these gems will be found and seen again. If these gems are broken and sold, they will essentially be erased from history and disappear from the world forever.”
The video appears to have been shot on a phone from inside the Paris institution, further highlighting the institution’s major security flaws. Just a year ago, activists threw a can of soup at the Mona Lisa, one of the most crowded exhibits at the museum, which currently serves as a site for mass tourism.
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Louvre director Laurence des Cars Adopted on Wednesday The century-old museum’s security and video surveillance “is our weakness.”
Des Cars told French MPs that the same balcony in the phone footage was not covered by security cameras outside and called for an updated surveillance system and the installation of a police station inside the museum. The director also offered to resign following the robbery, which French President Emmanuel Macron rejected.
