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Louvre Remains Closed After Heist as Officials Acknowledge Security Failure

Officials describe four thieves using a freight elevator to reach Napoleonic jewels, prompting a security review.

Overview

  • The Justice Minister said the robbers accessed a freight lift from the street and completed the operation within minutes, calling it a failure of the authorities.
  • Culture Minister Rachida Dati said four attackers spent about four minutes in the jewels room and appeared to know exactly which cases to target.
  • Investigators say the thieves used a grinding disc to breach armored glass, and the alarm sounded only in the security control room, not in the gallery itself.
  • The Paris prosecutor is leading the probe with organized crime as the main hypothesis, while other possibilities, including foreign state involvement, are not ruled out.
  • An intergovernmental meeting on Louvre security is scheduled for Monday, and nine items from the Napoleonic collection, including a tiara, emerald earrings, a sapphire necklace and brooches, remain missing.