Gunmen steal $50M in diamonds at Brussels airport

BRUSSELS -- Eight masked gunmen stole diamonds valued at $50 million in a raid at the Brussels airport as the gems were being loaded onto a plane bound for Switzerland.

The robbers, in two black cars, breached the airport perimeter shortly before 8 p.m. Monday and grabbed about 120 packets containing "mainly diamonds," Ine Van Wymersch, spokeswoman for the Brussels prosecutor's office, told a news conference.

No shots were fired and no one was injured, she said.

The gems were in the cargo hold of a Helvetic Airways plane operated by Swiss International Air Lines that was preparing to depart for Zurich, said Jan Van der Cruysse, a spokesman for the airport.

The thieves stopped at the plane for just three minutes and the whole operation took just over 10 minutes, he said.

"It was very well organized, very swift, efficient and well planned," Van der Cruysse said in a telephone interview.

Caroline De Wolf, a spokeswoman for the Antwerp World Diamond Centre, estimated the haul to have been "about $50 million of rough and polished diamonds."

The robbers flashed guns at the pilots and security workers before forcing open the cargo doors and taking the packets of gems from inside, Van Wymersch said.

They drove away at high speed.

The bandits' vehicles had flashing blue lights similar to police cars and they wore outfits resembling dark police clothing, The Associated Press reported.

They forced their way through the airport fence at a place where two work sites obstructed a clear view, according to the AP.