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Jewel thieves in brazen Dutch art fair heist
Armed robbers staged a brazen daylight raid on an international art fair in the Netherlands, smashing a jewellery case with a sledgehammer in front of terrified visitors.
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Dutch police officers stand guard at the entrance of the TEFAF Art Fair in Maastricht on June 28, 2022, following a robbery. (AFP/Marcel van Hoorn/ANP)
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lat-cap wearing armed robbers staged a brazen daylight raid on an international art fair in the Netherlands Tuesday, smashing a jewellery case with a sledgehammer in front of terrified visitors.
Police said they pulled over a car and arrested two Belgians in their twenties after the four smartly dressed thieves held up the TEFAF (The European Fine Art Fair) in the southern city of Maastricht.
Dramatic social media images showed the robbers threatening people with what appeared to be handguns before running off with an undisclosed amount of what police called "loot".
The venue was evacuated but visitors were eventually let back into the fair, which draws tens of thousands of people over several days. No one was hurt, police said.
"A stall was raided, they fled and we started the search," Wim Coenen, a spokesman for Limburg province police, told AFP. "There were four suspects, two were arrested."
Dutch media said the display case contained diamond jewellery and other items from London jeweller Symbolic and Chase. There was no comment from the firm.
Police confirmed in a statement that "jewellery was stolen. Additional details about the loot are not being provided at this time."
