It was "proffs" who within the span of four minutes broke into the Louvre and got away with "priceless" jewelry from there, says France's Minister of Culture Rachida Dati to the French channel TF1. The country's Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez previously stated that it took seven minutes to carry out the heist.
He confirms that the perpetrators used a cherry picker to get in, on the side of the Louvre facing the Seine river.
The perpetrators are said to have been equipped with chainsaws, and according to Le Parisien, two men entered the premises while a third waited outside. They are said to have used freight elevators to get to the room where the jewels were kept, writes AFP.
They are said to have fled on a motorcycle in the direction of the A6 highway.
A jewel found
Empress Eugenie's crown was found damaged outside the museum, according to the Minister of Culture.
Paris Mayor Ariel Weil tells Le Parisien that he is stunned by the event and that it "inevitably will raise questions about security".
It has been like a movie script until now. It is hard to imagine that it seems to be so easy to break into the Louvre.
Museums vulnerable
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez says that there is "a great vulnerability" in French museums. The museum states on social media that it will remain closed on Sunday "due to exceptional circumstances", without going into further details.
It was necessary to evacuate people, mainly to preserve tracks and clues so that the investigators could work calmly, says Laurent Nuñez.
Culture Minister Dati writes on X that no one was injured in the incident. The prosecution in Paris states that they have initiated an investigation into organized theft, writes Le Parisien. Roads near the Louvre have been blocked off.
