Gunmen Raid Venetian Hotel

Eight masked gunmen raided a luxury hotel on the island of Lido today, fleeing with about $150,000 in money and jewels and taking two Italian guests hostage.

The gunmen freed the guests, a husband and wife, unharmed a short time later, officials said. The heist occurred shortly after 4 a.m. at the Excelsior Hotel, one of a chain of hotels owned by Karim Aga Khan. Venice authorities estimated the gunmen’s take would have been larger if a hotel porter had not escaped and alerted police. That forced the gunmen to flee with the contents of only a dozen of the 150 strongboxes in the hotel’s safe.