Nov. 6 (UPI) — A group of 40 Chinese tourists was robbed in Paris on Thursday by assailants armed with tear gas, according to local reports.
French newspaper Le Parisien reported that the tourists were in a parking lot in the Paris suburb of Val-de Marne after a shopping trip when the suspects sprayed tear gas and made off with their bags, which included many luxury items.
“I heard screams, and when I looked out the window, I saw two people assaulting a Chinese guide, and I saw others using tear gas against the tourists,” a hotel worker told the newspaper. “For an hour, it was absolute panic … Many of them [tourists] asked me to hide their bags.”
According to Xinhua, the Chinese embassy is urging Chinese people to be more vigilant about the possibility of attacks on them in France.
“The greater Paris region has reported a series of violent muggings and attacks against Chinese tourists and Chinese-French,” the Chinese embassy said, according to the South China Morning Post.
This isn’t the first time thieves armed with tear gas robbed tourists in Paris.
In July, thieves used tear gas to rob a group of 19 tourists, including four Americans, outside the Novotel hotel in Roissy-en-France, near Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport.
And in August 2016, a group of 27 Chinese tourists were also robbed with tear gas near the airport.
