A GROUP of armed men made off with a haul of cash, diamonds and precious metals from a Swissair freight container shortly after it was unloaded at Johannesburg airport in South Africa last week, the Swiss airline and a German newspaper report said on Monday. Between five and seven gunmen, according to witnesses, raided the container as it sat on the tarmac three or four kilometres from an airport security post, the German newspaper Blick reported. The newspaper said the haul amounted to an estimated €8,4 million euros ($7,4-million). Company spokeswoman Christine Buehler confirmed the theft, but refused to divulge the value of the items stolen or the owners. She said the freight container had been unloaded from the hold of a Swissair aircraft according to normal procedure and was under the responsibility of airport security when the crime occurred on July 31. In January, a €6,45-million uncut diamond was stolen as it was being transported by Swissair between Geneva, Zurich and Johannesburg. – AFP
Monday August 6, 2001