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| 'Gigantic' Brussels Airport diamond heist | 'Gigantic' Brussels Airport diamond heist |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Armed robbers have made off with a "gigantic" haul of diamonds after a rapid raid at Brussels Airport. | |
| They broke through a fence on Monday evening and stole gems which could be worth 50m euros (£43m; $67m), as they were being loaded from a Brinks security van onto a Swiss-bound plane. | |
| They escaped back through the same hole. Police later found a burned-out vehicle close to the airport. | They escaped back through the same hole. Police later found a burned-out vehicle close to the airport. |
| Police are looking for eight men, a prosecutors' spokeswoman said. | Police are looking for eight men, a prosecutors' spokeswoman said. |
| Caroline De Wolf, of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre, estimated the haul at 50m euros, saying: "What we are talking about is obviously a gigantic sum". | |
| AFP quoted an unnamed spokeswoman at the same Antwerp centre calling the robbery "one of the biggest" ever. | AFP quoted an unnamed spokeswoman at the same Antwerp centre calling the robbery "one of the biggest" ever. |
| She said that the diamonds were "rough stones" being transported from Antwerp to Zurich. | She said that the diamonds were "rough stones" being transported from Antwerp to Zurich. |
| Antwerp is the hub of the world diamond trade - about 150m euros' worth of stones move in and out of the city every day, the spokeswoman added. | |
| No shots | |
| Brussels prosecutor's spokeswoman Anja Bijnens said the thieves were masked and well armed, but no shots were fired and no-one was hurt in the raid. | |
| They used two vehicles, the raid was over in a matter of minutes, and they made off into the night. | |
| An airport spokesman, Jan Van Der Crujsse, said the robbers made a hole in the perimeter fence and drove up next to the Swiss passenger plane that was preparing to leave. | |
| He could not explain the security breach. "We abide by the most stringent rules,'' he said. | |
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