An art collector today claimed she was robbed of more than £4million worth of jewellery during a designer handbag snatch in a notorious motorway tunnel in Paris. The German woman, who has not been named, was in a taxi which was stuck in traffic shortly after arriving at Charles de Gaulle airport on Wednesday afternoon. Three thieves are said to have ‘appeared from nowhere’ and smashed a rear window of the car, making off with the bag. The heist took place in the Landy Tunnel (pictured), which is just under a mile long and notorious for smash-and-grabs . It included numerous valuable items including a single ring worth close to £1million, as well as around 12 other valuable pieces. Today the victim told police that all of the items, which also included watches, bracelets, and rings were worth well over £4million. The ‘extremely rich’ German, who is part Taiwanese, was on her way to loan some of the jewels to the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris, according to sources close to the case. But, in a mysterious twist, the museum later denied knowing anything about the intended delivery. Detectives were today trying to work out whether the thieves had inside knowledge, or had simply ‘got lucky’, said an investigating source. The German woman, who has not been named, was in a taxi which was stuck in traffic shortly after arriving at Charles de Gaulle airport (pictured) Rather than escaping on a motorbike – which is usual – the thieves in this case ran away on foot, scrambling up a sharp motorway embankment. The items are all listed and numbered because of their high value – something which will make them very hard to sell on. The heist took place in the Landy Tunnel, which is just under a mile long and notorious for smash-and-grabs. Youths living in local housing estates often follow passengers on mopeds, and then attack the cars they are travelling in. In February 2010, Christina Chernovetska, the daughter of the then mayor of Kiev, lost some £4million worth of jewels in similar circumstances.
'Extremely rich' German woman's taxi was stuck in traffic as thieves struck .
They smashed rear window of vehicle before running away with handbag .
The victim says one of the stolen rings was worth close to £1million alone .
Claimed she was on her way to loan some of the items to museum in Paris .