Five men smashed windows at the famous Ritz Paris Hotel to steal the goods - with two suspects currently being hunted by cops after they managed to flee
ARMED robbers brandishing axes stormed a luxury Paris hotel to make off with £4 million worth of jewellery.
The five men smashed windows at the famous Ritz Paris Hotel to steal the goods with two suspects currently being hunted by cops after they fled on scooters.
Three of the armed robbers were arrested at the hotel during the drama at around 6.30pm local time, reports.
No one was injured in the robbery at the five-star hotel but terrified guests were told 'get down' as shots rang out.
A source said: "The attackers used axes to smash open reinforced glass cases containing jewellery while filling bags.
"As they tried to get away, police officers arrived and three of the robbers were pulled to the ground and then arrested.
"Two others got out the back door of the hotel and were seen running away, and then getting on mopeds."
A tourist told bartenders at the Hemingway bar yelled at people to "get down" as the masked men smashed their way into the hotel.
She added: "One man wearing a ski mask ran from the bar door to the front of the bar right past my father. He had an axe in his hand.
"We heard at least 10 rounds of gunfire so everyone dove behind the bar where we stayed there for about six minutes."
Writer Frédéric Beigbeder, who wrote prize winning 9/11 book Windows on the World took refuge in a basement as the men - armed with an axe and two handguns - swooped on the hotel.
A police source told the robbers took around 4 million euro worth of jewels.
The Ritz Paris Hotel is located in the 1st arrondissement and overlooks the Place Vendôme.
It is known as one of the most luxurious hotels in the world with 159 rooms and re-opened in 2016 and it underwent a multi-million pound refurbishment.
The Hemingway Bar is named after the American writer Ernest Hemingway, who used to drink there with friends including Great Gatsby author F. Scott Fitzgerald and the actor Gary Cooper.
Hemingway famously ‘liberated’ the bar after arriving in Parison a tank at the end of the German Occupation in 1944.
Princess Diana had dined in the hotel's Imperial Suite on August 31, 1997, shortly before her tragic death in a car crash in Paris.
The hotel was bought in 1979 by Mohamed Al-Fayed, whose son Dodi was also killed in the fatal crash.
Its retail gallery boasts several jewellers’ as well as designer goods shops.
A superior room at the hotel costs from £885 a night, while a "grand deluxe" room could set guests back £1,240.
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