|
 Kardashian, wife of rapper Kanye West, later left France
aboard a private jet from Le Bourget airport after spoken to
investigators.
Five attackers, wearing ski masks and clothes with police
markings, struck around 3 a.m. (0100 GMT) inside the exclusive
apartment block where Kardashian was staying while attending
Paris Fashion Week, a police source told Reuters.
Two of the men entered Kardashian's apartment after threatening
the night guard with a hand gun. Kardashian was not beaten, but
the robbers put a handgun against her temple before tying her
up, the source said. iTELE television said she had been tied up
with packing tape.
The robbers stole a box with 5-6 million euros' ($5.6-$6.7
million) worth of jewels and a ring worth about 4 million euros,
the source said.
Kardashian was discovered "badly shaken but physically
unharmed", according to her publicist, Ina Treciokas.
As news of the event spread, West abruptly ended a performance
in New York less than an hour into his set.
"I'm sorry I have a family emergency, I have to stop the show,"
West told the audience in video tweeted by fans at the Meadows
Festival in Queens.
The Paris apartment block is a discreet building behind the
city's Madeleine church, with several secret entrances, often
frequented by movie and music stars who pay up to 15,000 euros a
night.
The source said the attackers fled on bicycles. Police found the
night guard in the staircase, his hand and feet bound.
Kardashian was in Paris with her mother Kris Jenner and her
sisters Kendall Jenner and Kourtney Kardashian to attend the
fashion week. The rest of the family stayed in a hotel.
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The robbery set social media alight, with many users expressing
disbelief at the latest headline-grabbing event in the life of a TV
star who life is continually documented on screen and the internet.
"Looking forward to accompanying album and TV show detailing event,"
said Twitter user Jay.
Most comments, however, were supportive.
"Kim Kardashian is a mother, a wife, daughter and sister. Despite
the fact that you don't like her, being held up at gun point is not
funny," said one post by Alieuisha.
Paris has seen several armed robberies on high-end jewelry stores in
recent months.
The armed robbery could add to worries about safety in Paris, hit by
a series of attacks by Islamist militants last year.
Tourist numbers to what is traditionally the most visited city in
the world, fell 6.4 percent in the first half of 2016 as many Asians
and Americans stayed away.
"We worry about the image of Paris. This will be all over the news
channels, imagine the negative publicity," Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet,
head of the conservative opposition in Paris, told Europe 1 radio.
(Reporting by the Reuters French service, Leigh Thomas, Geert De
Clercq and Astrid Wendlandt in Paris and Chris Michaud in New York;
Editing by Jermey Gaunt)
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