EXCLUSIVE: Gang wearing full-length burkhas caught on video running through Selfridges during smash-and-grab axe raid (but not all of them got away thanks to have-a-go London shoppers)

• Eyewitness tells MailOnline: 'They looked professional. They did not say a word to each other'
  
• Witnesses say suspects dropped duffle bag containing several watches
• Men were held down until armed police arrived soon and arrested them
• Suspects were seized about 400 yards from store at 8.30pm last night

By Ben Spencer and Tom Gardner
PUBLISHED: 22:38 GMT, 6 June 2013 | UPDATED: 11:26 GMT, 7 June 2013

An eyewitness has described the dramatic moment he filmed a gang of armed robbers dressed in burkhas stealing tens of thousands of pounds of jewellery in a daring daylight smash-and-grab raid.
Stunned Khalid Samata - speaking exclusively to the MailOnline - said he heard a enormous bang and turned his camera phone on to video figures wearing Islamic dress axing their way into display cabinets Selfridges department store.
Mr Khalid, 30, said: 'I heard two loud bangs. The first sounded like someone had fallen from the first floor through a display cabinet. The second sounded more like a gunshot.
Scroll down for exclusive video

Smash and grab: An eyewitness films one of the burkha-clad robbers fleeing Selfridges

Caught on camera: This still from the camera phone video shows one of the robbers running for the exit after taking part in an audacious raid on one of London's most famous department stores

Escape: The burkha-clad raider clutches what appears to be an axe while fleeing the scene

 

EXCLUSIVE: Selfridges 'raiders' flee the scene

'Everyone started screaming and running away. I knew it was a robbery when I looked down from the floor above and saw people breaking into the cabinets.
Mr Khalid, who works in the French consulate and was shopping with his girlfriend and friend, added: 'I was shocked when I realised they were all wearing burkhas.

 

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'The robbers seemed very professional. They did not say a word to each other. They were silent.
'I turned my camera on and managed to film some of the people in burkhas running out of the store.'

Two suspected robbers were seized by passers-by after the raid, yesterday evening.
The men were pinned down by members of the public after their moped slipped over while turning a corner at speed in central London.

Praised: Police paid tribute to member of the public who managed to detain two smash and grab suspects

Treatment: Police, medics and passers-by stand around a man who came off a moped on a street corner in central London who, along with another man, was apprehended by police shortly after a raid at Selfridges

Response: The men were pinned down by members of the public after their moped slipped over

Witnesses said the suspects dropped a duffle bag containing several watches that spilled out onto the street.
The men, one dressed in a burka and the other wearing a motorbike helmet, were held down until armed police arrived soon afterwards and arrested them.
The suspects were seized about 400 yards from the world-famous Selfridges department store, a few minutes after cases were smashed on its ground floor at 8.30pm last night.
Witness Chloe Vaidya, 27, who was with a friend in a nearby pub, said: 'We heard people shouting and running towards the moped.
'One of the men who was next to the bike looked to have a broken leg. Further up the street was another man who was being sat on.'

Aftermath: Paramedics treat one of the suspected robbers, next to a crashed scooter, who took part in a smash and grab on Selfridges department store in central London

Passersby reported seeing two axes left discarded at the scene soon after the attack, which occurred half an hour before the Oxford Street store was due to close.
Nobody was hurt in the raid and the police quashed rumours that guns had been fired.
Matthew Carrozo, 28, saw the moped fall on the corner of Charlotte Street and Goodge Street.
He said: ‘It just came round the corner and slipped on a drain cover. The guy in the front was wearing a motorcycle helmet and the person on the back was wearing a burka.

Cordoned off: The men, one wearing a burka and the other a motorbike helmet, were held down until armed police arrived soon afterwards and arrested them

Broken glass: The scene of a smash and grab robbery in Selfridges on Oxford Street in central London

A twitter picture of two large yellow handled axes spotted near the shop after the incident

‘They dropped a duffle bag and six or seven watches fell out - there seemed to be at least 30 more inside.
Mr Carrozo, a digital marketing manager, added: ‘As soon as they hit the ground someone ran out of a restaurant and pinned them down - and then other people on the pavement joined him.

'They dropped a duffle bag and six or seven watches fell out - there seemed to be at least 30 more inside'

Matthew Carrozo, witness

‘The driver wriggled free and started running down Charlotte Street but he was caught and pinned down again. It was quite a struggle.’
Armed police arrived soon afterwards and cuffed the man in the motorcycle helmet before taking him away in a police van.
Paramedics treated the man in the burka for possible neck injuries before taking him away, accompanied by police.
Today, the have-ago-heros who tackled members of a burkha-clad armed gang as they fled were praised by police.
DCI Andy Noyes, from the Flying Squad, said: 'We are at an early stage in our investigation, but I would like to hear from anyone who was on Oxford Street last night or nearby who may have seen the robbery or the men making their escape.
'This was a brazen robbery, and appears to have been well planned and thought through. Fortunately no one was injured. The store was very busy and this will have been a shocking thing for people to witness.
'I'd like to thank those members of the public who stepped in and detained our two suspects. Their quick thinking and brave actions have helped our investigation.'
Officers are in the process of interviewing witnesses to the robbery and seizing CCTV. Additional police remain in the area of Oxford Street.
Detectives asked to hear from anyone who was in or around Selfridges last night who witnessed the robbery - which they described as taking 'planning and preparation' - or may have seen the men in the time running up to the robbery or as they made their escape.
Scotland Yard last night confirmed that two men were arrested after falling from a motorcycle.

Guns: Police officers at the scene of a smash and grab robbery in Selfridges on Oxford Street in central London

Unharmed: Nobody was hurt in the raid last night and the police quashed rumours that guns had been fired

A spokesman said: ‘The gang, armed with axes, smashed cabinets before making off with items from the shop. It is not currently known how many people were involved.

'The gang, armed with axes, smashed cabinets before making off with items from the shop'

Scotland Yard spokesman

‘Two of the suspects came off their moped in nearby Goodge Street. Members of the public then prevented them from leaving before officers arrived and arrested the men.
‘One of the men has been taken to hospital, we await an update on his condition. The second man is currently in custody.
'Detectives from Flying Squad are investigating. Armed officers attended. No shots were fired.’
Alex Jeffries, 25, was walking past Selfridges soon after the attack.
She said: ‘I looked through the door and could see smashed cases and two discarded axes. I think it was in the jewellery department.’