Six Individuals Detained After 12 Million Euro Robbery on Gold Refining Lab in France

A team of six suspects using assault rifles and handguns detonated charges to force entry into a gold treatment facility located in the city of Lyon, resulting in minor injuries to five staff members during what appears to be the most recent prominent broad daylight robbery to hit the country.

The daring raid occurred on the afternoon of Thursday, with police forces quickly arresting the individuals believed responsible and recovering the stolen goods estimated to be worth €12 million (10.5 million pounds), according to officials.

Five employees of the gold refining company sustained minor injuries due to the explosion, and three of them were transported to hospital for examination, officials confirmed. Twenty-eight workers were present on-site when the robbers attacked.

The suspects, thought to be experienced criminals, were detained shortly after the incident in the adjacent municipality of Vénissieux, a source close to the investigation stated.

A female accomplice involved in the raid was also apprehended, according to law enforcement.

“Six suspects who utilized explosives in a raid against a gold refining facility in Lyon, France were caught in the act,” the nation's interior minister stated online, commending law enforcement for their “quick action, authority and management”.

High-caliber firearms, handguns and detonation devices were likewise seized.

The heist took place as French police on the same day arrested five more suspects, featuring a main perpetrator, in connection with the bold Louvre museum robbery.

Dozens of investigators have been searching for four robbers who utilized a lorry featuring an elevating platform and cutting gear to access a gallery on the first floor at the prestigious institution on October 19th, escaping with ornaments assessed at around €88M.

In a different significant robbery, robbers the previous month forced their way into the Parisian museum of natural history, taking gold specimens valued at more than one million dollars. A young Chinese female was arrested earlier this month in Barcelona, Spain in connection with the break-in, prosecutors stated.

The string of thefts has raised concerns in the country regarding lax security at museums and other institutions containing precious artifacts.