Timeline of the Louvre heist: How thieves stole €88m of jewelery in under eight minutes

KANIKA SINGH RATHORE,

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In a weekend robbery that shocked the world, thieves stole the crown jewels worth €88 million ($102 million) from Paris’s Louvre museum in under eight minutes.

French authorities detailed how the criminals used a basket lift to break down the facade, broke a window and smashed display boxes before escaping on Sunday morning.

The thieves spent less than four minutes inside the world’s most visited museum in the audacious raid.

Here’s what is known about the timeline:

10 October

Thieves use false pretenses to steal basket lifts. Paris prosecutor Laurence Baccu said they set up an appointment with a company that owned the truck before abandoning it, using threats but no violence. The company filed a complaint of theft in the city of Louvres, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Paris. The name has led many to wonder whether it was a coincidence.

Police officers work in the basket lift used by thieves at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Police officers work in the basket lift used by thieves at the Louvre Museum in Paris. ,AP,

19 October

at 9 am

Louvre Museum opens to visitors.

9:30 am

The thieves dressed like renovation workers parked a truck equipped with a freight lift – a common sight in Paris – at the foot of the Louvre, next to the Quai François Mitterrand. this is the riverTwo men climb a ladder to reach the balcony and open the window with a disc cutter.

9:34 am

Two thieves enter its southern end Apollo Use the Disc Cutter to break the gallery and the two display cases and take the jewels. An alarm goes off in the security control room. Security officers evacuate visitors, in line with requirements that focus on crowd safety.

Members of a forensic team inspect a window believed to have been used by the French Interior Ministry in a robbery at the Louvre Museum.

Members of a forensic team inspect a window believed to have been used by the French Interior Ministry in a robbery at the Louvre Museum. ,reuters,

9:38 am

The thieves escape through the same window and run away to the east and two other people are waiting for them on two scooters. They leave behind a yellow jacket, similar to the jackets often worn by construction workers and other equipment, including disc cutters. Culture Minister Rachida Dati said security officers present at the scene stopped a thief from setting fire to a truck carrying a cargo lift.

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10:34 am

Dati announced on social media that “a robbery took place this morning at the opening of the Louvre Museum.”

Later that day: The emerald-studded imperial tiara of Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugénie, containing more than 1,300 diamonds, was found outside the museum. The thieves took away eight other items of invaluable historical value.

The diamond and emerald tiara of French Queen Eugenie de Montijo was found broken near the Louvre after the robbery.

The diamond and emerald tiara of French Queen Eugenie de Montijo was found broken near the Louvre after the robbery. ,AFP via Getty Images,

22 October

The museum reopened. Prosecutor Becu says there are about 100 investigators working on the case in addition to forensic experts who are analyzing surveillance footage and “150 samples” that were collected on the basket elevator, inside the museum, and on objects found.

Uk