Six Individuals Detained After 12 Million Euro Heist on Precious Metals Facility in the French Republic

A team of six suspects carrying high-powered firearms employed explosives to break into a gold treatment facility located in Lyon, slightly injuring five workers during described as the newest significant broad daylight robbery to occur in the nation.

The audacious robbery occurred on Thursday afternoon, with police forces quickly arresting the individuals believed responsible and retrieving the loot estimated to be worth €12 million (£10.5M), according to officials.

Five workers of the precious metals facility sustained minor injuries due to the explosion, and three individuals required hospital checks for examination, the regional prefecture announced. Twenty-eight workers were present on-site when the perpetrators raided.

The suspects, considered experienced criminals, were arrested shortly after the incident in the nearby town of the town of Vénissieux, authorities revealed.

A woman involved who took part in the raid was likewise arrested, a police source indicated.

“Six individuals who employed explosive devices in a raid against a gold refining facility in Lyon, France were caught in the act,” the nation's interior minister announced via X, commending law enforcement for their “quick action, authority and management”.

Assault rifles, handguns and explosives were also confiscated.

The robbery occurred as French police on the same day arrested five more suspects, including a primary suspect, in connection with the bold Louvre museum robbery.

Dozens of investigators have been searching for four perpetrators who employed a truck equipped with a moving lift and cutting equipment to access a gallery on the first floor at the renowned museum on 19 October, fleeing with ornaments assessed at around 88 million euros.

In a different significant robbery, burglars recently broke into the French capital's Natural History Museum, making off with gold samples valued at more than one million dollars. A woman from China, aged 24 was taken into custody recently in Barcelona in regarding the theft, officials confirmed.

The string of thefts has sparked worry in the nation regarding insufficient protection at museums and various establishments holding high-value objects.