Armed robbers have pulled off an audacious heist at Brussels airport, making off with diamonds worth around $50m (£32.2m).
The robbery - which took place on Monday night and lasted just three minutes - was "one of the biggest" ever, a spokeswoman for the Antwerp World Diamond Centre said, adding that the diamonds were "rough stones" being transported from Antwerp to Zurich.
Earlier reports had put the value of the shipment at about £300m.
The gang of eight hooded thieves hit a Brinks transport truck on the airport tarmac as its contents were being loaded onto a Swiss aircraft bound for Zurich.
An airport spokesman said the robbers cut a hole in a perimeter fence but was unable to explain why it had been so easy for them to avoid security.
"We abide by the most stringent rules," Jan Van Der Crujsse said.
Brussels prosecutor's spokeswoman Anja Bijnens said the masked men, who were wearing police uniforms and carrying machine guns drove two vehicles up to the plane.
They seized at least 120 packages, which was only a partial haul from the shipment, she said.
The pilot, co-pilot and staff from a Brink's armoured car that transported the gems were held up but "no shots were fired and no-one was injured," Ms Bijnens explained.
A specialist Belgian prosecutors unit dealing with organised crime is "pursuing all lines of enquiry", she said, and is collaborating also with Swiss authorities.
"This was not a random robbery, It was well-prepared - these were professionals."
There are more than 4,500 diamond dealers in Antwerp, the hub for a worldwide industry going back at least 500 years.
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