Four perpetrators carried out the jewel heist, prosecutor Laure Beccuau tells French BFM TV. With the help of a cherry picker, they made their way up to the balcony on the first floor outside the art gallery where the jewels are displayed.
There were no classic weapons, they had angle grinders, according to Beccuau.
The grinders were not only used to gain access to the gallery and display windows, the prosecutor reports.
They also threatened the guards who were on site, guards who tried to help visitors get away from there.
According to the prosecutor, the alarm worked. However, it is unclear whether the guards heard it or not.
Seven minutes
Without a doubt, the police were also alerted, but the heist went very quickly, according to Beccuau. It took the thieves four minutes to get into the gallery. Seven minutes after the cherry picker arrived, the thieves fled on mopeds with their loot.
We have failed, says France's Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin to France Inter.
One could park a freight elevator in the middle of the street in Paris and pick up people in a few minutes to steal invaluable jewelry and give a terrible image of France.
60 investigators
The CEO of a private Israeli intelligence firm that previously helped a German museum find stolen items told AFP that they had been contacted by the Louvre. The information was later denied by the Louvre management.
Around 60 investigators are working on the theory that the theft was carried out by organized criminals. The museum will reopen at the earliest on Wednesday. On Tuesdays, it is always closed to visitors, and on Monday, the Louvre also remained closed.
Both Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin and President Emmanuel Macron promise that the thieves will be caught. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, who previously was the police chief in Paris, says that security will be increased outside cultural institutions. The decision was made on Monday during a meeting with Culture Minister Rachida Dati.
