An armed robbery has been committed at the international art fair TEFAF in Maastricht, the Netherlands, according to police reports.
Two suspects have been arrested and two others are said to be on the run.
The search for them is in full swing.
According to police, the men may have stolen diamonds.
Nobody got hurt.
Ursula Scheer
Editor in the Feuilleton.
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The fair was evacuated early this morning after eyewitnesses said several men, at least one carrying a rifle and the other an ax, tried to rob a jewelry stall around 11.30am.
Photos on social media show footage of badly damaged glass showcases.
The art fair, which is taking place again for the first time after a two-year Corona break, now has to ask itself questions about its security concept.
An official statement states that the in-house security teams quickly disarmed the alleged perpetrators and that the police were quickly on site.
"The fair's strict safety procedures were followed and all visitors were successfully evacuated."
This does not answer how the suspected armed man could have penetrated into the halls of the Maastricht Exhibition and Congress Center (MECC), which is used by the TEFAF.
A spokesman for the show says: “TEFAF has robust procedures in place in the event of a security breach.
These were followed closely and all visitors, exhibitors and staff were safely evacuated.
Now the fair is open again.
TEFAF and MECC are now working with the authorities – no further explanation will be given.”
At the TEFAF - short for "The European Fine Arts Fair" - which is one of the most important art fairs in Europe, old and modern art, antiques, antiques and handicrafts, including jewellery, are exhibited and offered for sale by leading gallery owners and companies .
Images of TEFAF circulating on Twitter suggest the stand that was raided may be that of London retailer Symbolic & Chase.
The Art Newspaper quotes a local dealer as saying the situation was "managed very well".
“Most customers will not even have noticed the incident.
The thieves were quickly apprehended by the police and there were no injuries.”