PARIS: The thieves who stole priceless crown jewels from the Louvre in October escaped with just 30 seconds to spare due to avoidable security failures at the Paris museum, a damning investigation revealed on Wednesday.
The probe, ordered by the culture ministry after the embarrassing daylight heist, revealed that only one of two security cameras was working near the site where the thieves broke in on the morning of Sunday, Oct 19.
Agents in the security headquarters also did not have enough screens to follow the images in real time, while a lack of coordination meant police were initially sent to the wrong place once the alarm was raised, the report unveiled at the French Senate’s Culture Commission stated.