French police arrest six over armed robbery at gold laboratory
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The suspects were detained shortly after using explosives to break into the laboratory in Lyon.
PHOTO: AFP
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LYON - Six people armed with military-grade weapons used explosives to break into a gold refining laboratory in Lyon on Oct 30, slightly injuring five employees in France’s latest high-profile daytime heist.
The audacious raid in the eastern city took place that afternoon, with police quickly arresting the suspected perpetrators and recovering the loot estimated at €12 million (S$18 million), officials said.
Five employees of Pourquery Laboratories were “slightly injured in the explosion” and three were taken to hospital for checks, the regional prefecture told AFP.
Twenty-eight employees were present when the robbers struck.
One video posted on social media showed two men dressed in black leaving a white van, one carrying a ladder, which they used to scale the company’s fence.
In the video footage, a witness – apparently an employee at a neighbouring company – can be heard alerting the emergency services, saying he and his colleagues had heard a “huge explosion” and that the robbers carried “Kalashnikovs”.
In another video shot from a different angle, a robber carrying a weapon can be seen opening the rear door of a white van, into which an accomplice loads two black briefcases.
‘Really impressive’
A local woman, who did not give her name, also said she heard a major explosion.
“It was really impressive,” the young woman said in televised remarks, adding that nearby residents worried about safety.
“It’s not reassuring at all,” she added.
The suspects, believed to be seasoned criminals, were detained shortly after in the neighbouring town of Venissieux, a source close to the case told AFP.
A woman, an accomplice who took part in the robbery, was also arrested, a police source told AFP.
“Six people who used explosives in an attack on a precious metals company in Lyon were caught red-handed,” Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on X, praising officers for their “firmness, speed and control.”
Assault rifles, handguns and explosives were also seized.
The robbery occurred as French police on Oct 30 arrested five more people
Dozens of detectives have been hunting for four thieves who used a truck with a moving lift and cutting gear to break into a first-floor gallery at the museum
In another high-profile incident, thieves in September broke into the French capital’s Natural History Museum, making off with gold samples worth more than US$1 million
A 24-year-old Chinese woman was arrested
The string of robberies has stoked concern about inadequate security at museums and other places holding high-value items. AFP
