Kiwi tourists held by gunmen during art heist in Brazil

Salvador Dali's 'The Two Balconies', one of the paintings stolen in today's daring raid from the Rio de Janeiro art museum.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - A New Zealand couple were among tourists held by gunmen during an art heist at a Rio museum in Brazil today, the Associated Press (AP) is reporting..

The thieves overpowered security guards and stole paintings by Picasso, Dali, Matisse and Monet early today (NZ time), using the cover of a Carnival crowd to make their getaway, authorities said.

They entered the Chacara do Ceu museum as a samba band performed on the street outside and stole Pablo Picasso's The Dance, Salvador Dali's The Two Balconies, Henri Matisse's Luxemburg Garden and Claude Monet's Marine.

The four thieves reportedly used grenades to threaten security guards and people inside the museum, which was open at the time of the heist.

A couple from New Zealand and two tourists from Australia were among those held by the gunmen, AP affirmed that South American news website Globo Online was reporting.

The paintings were considered the most valuable pieces at the museum, but their exact value was not immediately available, said Thais Isel, a spokeswoman with Rio's Public Safety Secretariat.

The gunmen forced the guards to shut down the museum's security cameras, then fled while taking advantage of the huge crowd that was following the Carnival band.

Museum director Vera de Alencar said the robbery appeared to have been orchestrated by specialists, probably from international gangs, the country's official Agencia Brasil news service reported.

Brazil's federal police issued a countrywide alert to try to keep the paintings from leaving Brazil.

Carnival celebrations in Brazil officially began on Friday and continue until Tuesday.

- HERALD ONLINE STAFF