Death toll climbs to 146 in Hong Kong high-rise fire, officials say
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(LONDON) — The death toll following a massive fire that ripped through several Hong Kong high-rises has climbed to 146 people, the Hong Kong police on Sunday.
Speaking at a news conference, the police said they are not ruling out the possibility that the number of dead from the fire would increase.
With an “optimistic” estimation, the police added that the time for the search and operations is three to four weeks.
The massive fire engulfed the Wang Fuk Court, a residential apartment complex in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district, on Wednesday afternoon, officials said. Within hours it was upgraded to a No. 5 alarm, city officials said.
Three men associated with the construction firm in charge of the renovation at the housing complex were arrested and were under investigation in connection with the fire, Hong Kong police said during a press conference on Thursday morning.
Officials in Hong Kong announced Friday there would be three days of mourning for the victims.
From Nov. 29 to Dec. 1, national flags will be flown at half-mast and there will be a three-minute moment of silence on Nov. 29 at 8 a.m. Citizens will also have the opportunity to sign condolence books for the victims.
“During this period, government officials will not attend non-essential public activities. All entertainment and celebration activities organized or funded by the government will be cancelled or postponed as appropriate,” officials said.
(PARIS) — A dramatic video has surfaced, capturing two of the thieves wanted in the brazen $102 million jewel heist at the Louvre exiting the crime scene on a mobile cherry picker and fleeing on motorbikes with the loot.
Two French law enforcement sources confirmed to ABC News on Thursday that investigators are aware of the video and are reviewing it for clues as part of the investigation. The sources said the video was taken from inside the Louvre by members of the museum security staff.
The video, circulating online and verified by ABC News, shows the two thieves coming down from the targeted Apollo Gallery at the world-famous museum in a truck-mounted mechanical cherry picker.
In the footage, alarms can be heard going off in the background. The alleged perpetrators — one wearing a motorcycle helmet and the other covering their face with a balaclava and wearing a yellow construction worker vest – are seen making their way to the street.
Across the street from the escaping thieves, people can be seen walking and jogging along the Seine River as traffic goes by. The thieves are then seen jumping on a motorcycle and speeding off with the jewels.
French investigators said the entire robbery from start to getaway took seven minutes.
During her testimony before France’s Senate Culture Committee on Wednesday, Laurence des Cars, the president and director of the Louvre, said the only camera installed outside the Apollo Gallery was facing west and did not cover the window where the thieves used power tools to break in and exit.
“We did not spot the criminals arriving from outside early enough,” des Cars said.
In the video, someone on a two-way radio or intercom is heard saying, they were looking at one of the thieves getting on “his scooter” and adding, “They’re going to leave.” Moments later, a person filming could be heard saying in French, “F—, they’re gone?”
The manhunt for four main suspects in the brazen heist entered its fifth day on Thursday. Investigators have said they are in a race against time to catch the culprits, fearing they will dismantle the eight pieces they got away with and attempt to fence the many diamonds, precious stones and gold piecemeal.
Among the eight pieces of jewelry taken was a pearl and diamond tiara from the collection of Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense, according to the Louvre. The tiara, according to the Louvre, is composed of 212 pearls of various sizes and nearly 2,000 diamonds. The piece was commissioned by Emperor Napoleon III for his marriage to Eugenie de Montijo in 1853.
Also stolen was another tiara from the collection of Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense composed of sapphires and 1,083 diamonds, according to the Louvre.
On Wednesday, French police told ABC News that traces of DNA were found in one of the helmets and one of the gloves the suspects left behind after a jewelry heist.
In what could be the major break in the probe, investigators are now analyzing the DNA in hopes of finding a match.
The latest developments come as des Cars, the Louvre director, took the hot seat on Wednesday, telling lawmakers she submitted her resignation following Sunday’s heist.
Appearing in front of France’s Senate Culture Committee for two hours, des Cars said her resignation was rejected.
“This tragedy deeply shocked museum staff, fellow citizens, and admirers of the Louvre around the world,” said des Cars, reading an opening statement. “This is an immense wound that has been inflicted on us.”
Des Cars said all of the museum’s alarms worked, as did its video cameras, but noted a “weakness” in security.
“The weakness of the Louvre is its perimeter security, which has been a problem for a long time … certainly due to underinvestment,” des Cars told the lawmakers.
She said a “Grand Louvre renovation project” began 40 years ago “and has only affected half of the museum.”
Des Cars added, “The security system, as installed in the Apollo Gallery, worked perfectly. The question that arises is how to adapt this system to a new type of attack and modus operandi that we could not have foreseen.”
Despite touting the security system within the Louvre as working properly, des Cars added, “Today we are witnessing a terrible failure at the Louvre. The security of the Louvre is one of my top priorities during my term of office, and I repeat that I was appalled by the museum’s security situation when I arrived in 2021.”
Des Cars said the 232-year-old museum’s “aging infrastructure” has hindered “the installation of modern equipment.”
Officials said earlier this week that evidence collected so far points to “organized crime,” but added that investigators have not ruled out that the heist could have been an inside job.
(LONDON) — French authorities arrested two men in relation to last week’s major jewel heist at Paris’ Louvre Museum, the French National Police confirmed to ABC News, amid a nationwide manhunt for the perpetrators.
One suspect was arrested at 10 p.m. on Saturday at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport while trying to board a plane bound for Algeria, police said.
Police did not offer any information on the timing or circumstances of the second suspect’s arrest.
Both men are suspected of having been part of a team alleged to have robbed the Louvre last week. They are both from Seine Saint Denis, a northeastern suburb of Paris, police said.
No new information has been made public on the whereabouts of the stolen jewels that Paris Public Prosecutor Laure Beccuau estimated to be worth $102 million.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez praised investigators for making the arrests in a social media post on Sunday.
“I would like to offer my warmest congratulations to the investigators who worked tirelessly as I asked them to and who always had my full confidence,” Nuñez said in the post. “The investigations must continue in accordance with the secrecy of the investigation under the authority of the specialized interregional court of the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office.”
“We will continue with the same determination! Let’s keep going!” Nuñez added.
Authorities launched a nationwide manhunt for the Louvre suspects after the theft from the museum’s Apollo Gallery on the morning of Oct. 19, shortly after the museum opened to the public.
The stolen items included crowns, necklaces, earrings and brooches, some of which once belonged to Emperor Napoleon and his wife.
The team of thieves drove up to the side of the museum in what police described as a “mobile freight elevator” equipped with a metal ladder on the back that was extended up to a window, according to the Paris police.
“They deployed the freight elevator, securing the surroundings with construction cones, before accessing the second floor, in the Apollo Gallery, by breaking the window with an angle grinder,” according to the police statement.
“Inside, they then smashed two display cases, ‘Napoleon jewels’ and ‘French crown jewels,’ using the angle grinder and stole numerous pieces of high-value jewelry,” police said.
French President Emmanuel Macron vowed that authorities would catch those responsible for what he described as an “attack on a heritage that we cherish because it is our history.”
French Culture Minister Rachida Dati, who is overseeing the investigation alongside the Justice Ministry, described the heist to ABC News as “a simple, but spectacular operation.”
Soon after the theft, investigators said four suspects left the scene on two motorbikes, winding their way through central Paris and last spotted speeding southeast on Highway A6 out of Paris and in the direction of Lyon.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media at Parliament House Canberra on December 14, 2025 in Canberra, Australia. (Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — The Australian prime minister said he’s proposing tougher gun laws after 15 people were killed and more than 40 were hurt in a mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney.
Two gunmen — believed to be a father and son — opened fire on Sunday at an event marking the first night of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, according to authorities.
The father, 54, was shot and killed by police and the son, 24, was critically hurt and hospitalized, officials said.
Those killed range in age from 10 to 87, the NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team said.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday the massacre would be remembered as a “dark day in Australia’s history.”
The prime minister encouraged everyone in Australia to put a candle in their windows on Monday evening to show “that light will indeed defeat darkness.”
The National Cabinet met on Monday and ordered police and prosecutors to come up with options for stricter gun laws, including: “Accelerating work on standing up the National Firearms Register; Allowing for additional use of criminal intelligence to underpin firearms licencing that can be used in administrative licencing regimes; Limiting the number of firearms to be held by any one individual; Limiting open-ended firearms licencing and the types of guns that are legal, including modifications; and A condition of a firearm license is holding Australian citizenship,” according to the prime minister’s office.
Four guns and three improvised explosive devices were found at the crime scene and two more guns were found in searches at homes, the NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team said.
The father had a gun license since 2015 and six licensed firearms, officials said.
Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told reporters the son is an Australian-born citizen and the father arrived in 1998 on a student visa.
Albanese said the son was investigated by authorities in 2019 for links to the Islamic State, but “there was no indication of any ongoing threat or threat of him engaging in violence.”
Albanese on Sunday called the attack “an act of pure evil, an act of antisemitism” and “an act of terrorism.”
Pope Leo spoke out on social media on Monday, writing, “Enough with this antisemitic violence! Let us eliminate hatred from our hearts.”
ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman and Dada Jovanovic contributed to this report.
