Louvre director admits 'inadequate' camera coverage after heist
Three days after a daring daytime heist shocked Paris, the director of the Louvre acknowledged that there was insufficient security camera coverage of the museum's exterior walls.
Senators grilled Laurence des Cars over how thieves on Sunday were able to make off with an estimated €88 million ($178 million) in jewels from the world-famous museum in just seven minutes, News.Az reports citing foreign media.
The heist has renewed scrutiny of security at French museums.
“Despite our efforts, despite our hard work on a daily basis, we failed,” des Cars told senators in her first public statement since Sunday.
Des Cars said all alarms had functioned during the burglary, but admitted that security cameras did not adequately cover the thieves’ point of entry.
“The only camera installed is directed westward and therefore did not cover the balcony involved in the break-in,” she said.
“There are some perimeter cameras, but they are ageing,” she conceded. Surveillance of the museum’s outside walls “is highly insufficient”.
But she defended the museum’s €80m security plan, disputing a recent report that cited “persistent delays” in putting it into effect.
Similar news
