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A major manhunt is underway today after five masked attackers reportedly dressed as painters stormed Paris' exclusive Ritz hotel in a £4m jewellery heist.

The masked raiders smashed display cases in a corridor near a high-end jewellery store inside the hotel after entering through the back door but their escape was foiled when security watching through CCTV triggered a lock jamming a rear gate, according to reports.

Meanwhile, police nearby rushed to the scene and detained three suspects after shooting them with tasers. The trio have been described as 'well-known hoodlums', who and French and aged in their 20s and they could face up to 15 years in prison.

But officers are still hunting two suspects who who fled in a moped and Renault Megane car.

According to reports the gang snatched £4million in jewellery but as yet it is not clear how much has been recovered.

(Image: Twitter)

Europe 1 reports, police are yet to make an inventory to determine how much was taken and how much jewellery was recovered at the scene.

Witnesses described 'total panic' after gunmen opened fire when storming the five-star hotel - on the world's most luxurious hotels and a popular destination for A-list celebrities and the super-rich.

An American told Mirror Online that the gunmen opened fire when they stormed five-star 'palace' - one of the most luxurious hotels in the world - which is popular with A-list celebrities and the super-rich.

She was having a drink in the famous Hemingway bar when panicked bartenders suddenly started shouting at guests to "get down" on the floor for their safety.

She said one of the suspects was wearing a ski mask and carrying an axe as a bartender locked the door and rushed guests into the kitchen where they took refuge from the attack.

The terrified guests then heard gunshots and screaming behind the locked door as the brazen raid unfolded, says the woman, who was left shaken.

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The glass containers were all in a corridor leading towards the Hemingway bar.

A police source told Reuters: "The loss is very high and remains to be assessed."

Another said that a bag had been recovered possibly containing some of the loot.

(Image: REX/Shutterstock) (Image: REX/Shutterstock)

The terrifying smash-and-grab armed robbery happened at about 6.30pm local time at the hotel overlooking the Place Vendôme in the heart of the French capital.

The American tourist described an eerie sense of calm in the kitchen as people hid, with one woman so terrified that she became physically ill.

The tourist told Mirror Online: "My parents and I were sitting at the Hemingway bar at the Ritz for a drink and we were about to leave when we heard shouting from the bartenders to get down.

"One man wearing a ski mask ran from the bar door to the front of the bar right past my father. He had an axe in his hand.

"Immediately the bartender closed and locked the door and corralled everyone to the back kitchen area of the bar.

(Image: Twitter)

(Image: Facebook)

"We heard at least 10 rounds of gunfire so everyone dove behind the bar where we stayed there for about six minutes.

"We heard shouting and screaming from right outside the door. We were told there were robbers with guns and axes.

"They were after the jewellery on display at the hotel. I know the bar across from ours was shot through because I saw the door window and it was shattered."

She added: "I also saw one of the workers at the hotel had gotten shot in the leg.

(Image: REX/Shutterstock)

"The bartender said shots had been fired and we heard them, as well as seeing the remnants of gunshots."

The holidaymaker said of the injured employee: "He seemed to be fine but the paramedics were looking at him. He was sitting against the wall right outside the bar."

Local media said no injuries were reported.

The tourist added: "When the robbers barged in everyone was kind of confused. The guy went right past my father and my father didn't really think anything of it.

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"I just heard screaming and the bartender telling everyone to get down.

"When we were in the kitchen everyone was quiet but still obviously very frightened. One women was puking in the kitchen."

A source inside the hotel said a female pedestrian was the only person injured: "A police patrol was close to the Ritz after the men arrived, and intercepted them as they tried to get out the back door of the hotel.

"Tasers were used to disabled three of the men, who had put up a struggle. They are well knownhoodlums who have been involved in this kind of thing before."

A man who was nearby when the robbery unfolded said he arrived afterwards but was told that gunshots were fired.

Police launched a major operation following the heist and there was a heavy presence of officers and security in and around the hotel in Paris' exclusive 1st arrondissement.

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A police source told Le Figaro that the robbers stole about 4.5 million euro (£4million) worth of jewellery.

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A source said: "The attackers used axes to smash open reinforced glass cases containing jewellery, while filling bags. As they tried to get away, police officers arrived, and three of the robbers were pulled to the ground and then arrested.

"Two others got out the back door of the hotel, and were seen running away, and then getting on mopeds."

Guests drinking in the Hemingway Bar, at the back of the hotel, first heard the commotion.

The source said: "Bar staff told everybody to remain calm, and not to do anything stupid. Some clients were ushered down into the basement for safety. Shots from what sounded like a handgun were heard at one point.

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"There were initial fears that a terrorist attack was going on, but it soon became clear that it was a robbery."

The French author Frédéric Beigbeder, 52, was among the famous guests who witnessed the incident, Le Figaro reported.

Mr Beigbeder, who wrote the prize-winning novel Windows on the World, which takes place at New York's World Trade Center during the September 11 terror attacks, reportedly took refuge in the basement when the robbers stormed the Hemingway bar.

(Image: REX/Shutterstock)

The bar is named for the American author Ernest Hemingway because it was one of his favourite haunts. He used to drink there with friends including Great Gatsby author F Scott Fitzgerald and the actor Gary Cooper.

Hemingway famously "liberated" the bar after arriving in Paris on a tank at the end of Nazi Germany's occupation in 1944.

French Interior Minister Gérard Colomb hailed the work of police following the arrests.

He wrote on Twitter: "Robbery at the Ritz: already 3 of the alleged perpetrators were arrested by officers from the 2nd District. Their cool, their professionalism and response are a credit to our Police. They have my gratitude."

(Image: AFP)

It was suggested that one theory that will be considered by investigators will be that the raid was carried out by the Pink Panthers – a notorious criminal gang mainly made up of ex-soldiers from Balkans countries such as Serbia.

The Panthers, who frequently carry out raids across France, got their nickname after hiding a £500,000 diamond stolen during a London raid in a jar of face cream.

This was a tactic used in the original 1963 Pink Panther film, starring Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau.

However, the Panthers are better known for using high-ends sports cars rather than mopeds, and usually plan their raids down to the last detail.

It would be highly unusual for three of them to be arrested during a robbery.

Security around the hotel, on the right bank of the river Seine, was heightened following a series of daylight robberies in the area in 2014.

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In 2016, reality TV star Kim Kardashian was tied up and robbed at gunpoint in her Paris residence by masked men who stole about £8 million worth of jewellery.

Last May, three armed robbers stole five million euro (£4.4 million) worth of jewellery in a raid at a Buccellati shop which is just 100 metres from the Ritz.

Founded in 1898 by Swiss hotelier César Ritz, the hotel was the first in Paris to boast electricity on all floors and bathrooms that were inside rooms.

It reopened in 2016 following an extensive four-year renovation and a fire.

The Ritz is a favourite retreat for the rich and famous, and is owned by Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed, the father of Dodi Al-Fayed, who died in a car crash along with Princess Diana in August 1997.

The couple had dined in the hotel's Imperial Suite shortly before they were killed.

The hotel is next door to France’s Justice Ministry, where soldiers stand guard 24 hours a day.

Celebrity residents over the years have included fashion designer Coco Chanel and author Marcel Proust.