American tourists describe the “very scary” moment Louvre thieves stole jewelry during the day

American tourists described the terrifying moment they came face to face The brazen thieves of the Louvre Museum Who escaped from the world-famous Paris museum with irreplaceable treasures in broad daylight.

Curt Dale Clark, artistic director of the Musical Theater of Maine, said he and 28 others in the theater group had only seen “five or six really great pieces of art” on Sunday when they were about to “enter the room next to the room where the theft occurred.”

Clark recalled that security guards at the Louvre Museum suddenly started behaving in a “terrible and rude” manner towards them, but they did not understand what was happening as no one in the group spoke French.

Moments later, the presence of heavily armed officers made it clear that something serious was unfolding.

“When we started seeing SWAT teams and military personnel, I said, ‘I think there’s something else going on here,'” Clark said. And die. “So, we all turned around and followed suit.”

Clark, who was unaware of the theft, said the group was concerned about a terrorist attack.

The theater set was then quickly moved down the stairs and into the foyer of the Louvre as more armed SWAT officers streamed into the historic landmark.

He added that this experience left the group shaken, but expressed his thanks that no one was harmed.

“We found everyone,” Clark recalls. “We got out of there, but there was almost immediate action by the French police and the French army.”

The masterminds behind this daring theft have not yet been identified.

More than 100 investigators are working to arrest the four suspects Who stole antiquities worth approximately $102.1 million (88 million euros)Paris Prosecutor Laure Picouau told a French radio station on Tuesday.

The four criminals, posing as construction workers, used a construction elevator to reach a second-floor window, cut the glass with an angle grinder, then entered Galerie d’Apollon – stealing thousands of diamonds and other priceless jewelery before fleeing on motorbikes.

Indiana couple Jacob and Holly Parker were inside the famous Gallery d’Apollon when thieves entered the museum to rob them and heard the crew breaking through the glass.

“It was terrifying. I mean, it’s just like the movies. So we knew at that point we needed to take action,” Jacob Parker told TODAY. “We didn’t know if there was a thief with a chainsaw behind that window, or if there were 100 mass terrorists, but we knew we didn’t want to stay there to find out.”

Like Clark, the Parkers were ushered into the lobby until the tourists were allowed to leave.

“In the back of my head, I think it could also be a mass shooting situation or a terrorist attack. But again, there was this controlled chaos where no one was giving us any instructions,” Parker said.

Includes stolen items A diamond and ruby ​​tiara that belonged to Napoleon III’s wife, Queen Marie-Amélie, and Queen Hortense, daughter of Napoleon Bonaparte’s first wife, Josephine, according to the French Ministry of Culture.

Ruby necklace and earrings from the collection Also missingIn addition to an emerald necklace and earrings belonging to Marie-Louise, Napoleon’s second wife; Reliquary brooch, designed to hold a religious relic; A crown and a bodice belonging to Empress Eugenie.

Investigators fear the perpetrators will destroy the priceless, uninsured diamonds by melting them down for resale, but Pico said they will never see anything close to the actual value of the gems.

She told the radio station: “The criminals would not have received 88 million euros if they had the very bad idea of ​​dismantling and melting this jewelry.”

“So maybe we can hope that they will think about it and not destroy this jewelry for no reason.”

The investigation remains open, with forensic experts now conducting DNA analysis on items left at the scene, Bekwao said.