Another jewelry store in Oslo was hit hard just before the New Year’s weekend, by thieves who used explosives to blow up its entrance. Police think their heist literally backfired, though.
Residents of the mixed-use commercial and apartment building on fashionable Hegdehaugsveien were jolted awake by the explosion just before 5am Thursday. It also severely damaged an adjacent antique book store, hurling books out into the street.
One resident told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) that he thought the building was under attack, and he and his partner sought refuge in their bathroom. The blast blew out their apartment’s windows, along with several others in the building.
Police think the thieves miscalculated and used too many explosives, actually ruining their plan of ransacking the shop, Engen Juveler. The blast may have scared them off as well, since one man was seen running from the scene immediately, and most of the store’s inventory was left in place.
“We haven’t seen many break-ins like this,” the security chief for employers’ organization HSH told newspaper Aftenposten. “There are easier ways of getting a door open than blasting it and waking up the whole neighborhood.”
There have been several other spectacular jewelry store burglaries in Oslo in the past year, including armed robberies and once case where thieves drilled through a concrete wall to get into a safe.
Views and News staff
