TOULOUSE : Three assailants armed with shotguns and machetes held up a casino in the resort village of Castera-Verduzan in southwest France, escaping with around 12,000 euros ($13,168), local police said Sunday.
The masked trio entered the casino overnight Saturday with around 15 gamblers and six employees present, police sources and local media said. The robbers were said to have identified the cashier and took possession of the till before fleeing aboard a high-powered car without firing a shot.
Police forces in the nearby cities of Auch and Toulouse heading the investigation were still hunting for the perpetrators Sunday evening. Diminutive Castera-Verduzan is a thermal springs resort around 60 kilometres (37 miles) northwest of Toulouse, with a casino that features 60 slot machines and two Black Jack tables. French police were searching Sunday for the driver of a car that smashed through a security barrier in central Paris near the finish line of cycling's Tour de France.
Police opened fire on the car, failing to stop it from speeding away after the incident in the Place de la Concorde at the foot of the famous Champs Elysees. The car was later found abandoned nearby. A police source said witnesses saw two men and two women leaving the bullet-ridden car. The world's greatest cycling race was to finish layer Sunday at the Arc de Triomphe, at the other end of the Champs Elysees, after the cyclists perform several laps up and down the famous avenue.