Louvre reopens three days after French crown jewels stolen
The Louvre Museum in Paris has reopened three days after 88 million euros (£76 million; $102 million) worth of jewels were stolen in a brazen daylight robbery.
Visitors returned to the Louvre from 09:00 local time (07:00 GMT) on Wednesday, but the museum said the Apollo Gallery, where the robbery took place, remained closed.
Thieves using power tools entered the world’s most visited museum in less than eight minutes on Sunday morning and made off with the loot on scooters. They haven’t been caught yet.
A government spokesman said President Emmanuel Macron had called on ministers to step up security measures as the Louvre reopens.
The museum’s director, Laurence des Cars, will appear before the French Senate’s cultural committee on Wednesday afternoon.
He has not yet made a public statement about the robbery announced by Macron. It was described as an attack on the country’s heritage.
A preliminary report found that one in three rooms at the Louvre had no CCTV and the wider alarm system was not activated. As a result, security measures have been tightened at cultural institutions across France.
Senator Nathalie Goulet previously told the BBC that the gallery’s alarm had recently been broken and a police investigation could reveal whether it had been disabled.
The culture ministry said the museum’s general alarms went off and staff followed protocol by contacting security forces and protecting visitors.
The museum closed its doors after the daring robbery and informed visitors who had made reservations in advance that their fees would be refunded.
Meanwhile, dozens of inspectors continue their work to catch criminals.
At 09.30 on Sunday, four masked thieves reached the Apollo Gallery from a balcony near the River Seine, using a truck with a mechanical ladder mounted on it.
Two of them entered the museum by cutting through a glass window on the first floor using a cordless disc cutter.
They then threatened the guards inside who evacuated the building and cut the glass of two display cases where the jewelry was stored.
The thieves tried to set fire to their vehicles outside, but were prevented by the intervention of museum staff. They were seen escaping on scooters at 09:38.
Among the spoils, the diamond and emerald necklace that Emperor Napoleon gave to his wife, III. It includes a crown worn by Napoleon’s wife, Empress Eugenie, and several pieces that previously belonged to Queen Marie-Amelie.
Investigators also found a damaged tiara belonging to Empress Eugenie, thought to have been dropped while escaping, along the thieves’ escape route.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told France’s Europe1 newspaper on Wednesday that he had “every confidence” that the thieves would be caught.
Prosecutors said their theory was that the robbers were under the command of a criminal organization.
