Part of loot recovered during arrest of three suspects, with rest found in wreckage and in bag dropped by two men still at large

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Paris authorities have recovered all the jewels stolen from the Ritz hotel in a dramatic robbery on Wednesday, but were still searching for two thieves who got away, officials said on Thursday.

The gems, taken by a gang of at least five men, were worth an estimated €4.5m (£4m).

Workers cleaned up shattered glass on Thursday and started to repair damage from the robbery. Otherwise business appeared to be returning to normal at the Ritz, with no significant increase in security.

Three men entered the hotel by the service entrance, “smashed the jewellery stands and grabbed jewels that were clearly expensive with the help of axes,” said Jean-Michel Huguet of Alliance Police Nationale, a police union.

They seized watches from display cases and then targeted an Alexandre Reza jewellery boutique inside the hotel.

The three threw bags of jewels out of a window to at least two accomplices outside, police said. The three inside were then blocked by police officers when they tried to flee through another door, and quickly arrested, the official said.

The two accomplices who had been outside the hotel then fled – one on a motorcycle and another in a car.

The motorcyclist dropped a bag containing jewels and hatchets when his motorcycle hit a pedestrian during his escape. The pedestrian was slightly injured.

Other jewels were found scattered amid the debris of the shattered display cases during overnight cleanup efforts.

An official close to the investigation said Thursday night that all the stolen jewels have been recovered, after authorities and jewellers carefully examined the contents of the bag and debris and found everything had been accounted for.

Another police official said some of the thieves apparently had guns. Two people inside the hotel hid from the thieves and alerted police, the official said.

Gérard Collomb, the French interior minister, praised the police response following the arrests. “Armed robbery at the Ritz: three of the presumed thieves already arrested by police from the 2nd arrondissement. Their sangfroid, their professionalism and their quick reactions do the police proud. I am grateful to them,” Collomb tweeted.

The Ritz is owned by the Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al Fayed. It was at the Paris Ritz that Diana, Princess of Wales, dined with Fayed’s son, Dodi, the night before they died in a car crash in August 1997.



Security was stepped up in and around Place Vendôme in 2014 after a series of thefts on luxury shops and jewellers in the square, which is also home to France’s ministry of justice.

In October 2016, jewellery worth €10m was stolen from the American reality TV star Kim Kardashian in Paris. Five men, some wearing jackets with police insignia, held her at gunpoint, making off with several pieces of gold and diamond jewellery.

Wednesday’s robbery comes 18 months after the Ritz reopened to guests after nearly four years of renovations and a major fire.