* This story has been updated.
Cape Town - A gang of 15 men held up staff and guests at the five-star and iconic Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel in the Cape Town CBD on Tuesday night, police confirmed on Wednesday.
Police spokesman FC Van Wyk said the armed men arrived at the hotel in two vehicles. The security guard at the access control gate was threatened with a firearm. Two of the suspects removed the guard's baton and hand radio and stayed with him while other members of the gang proceeded to enter the hotel.
"They pointed staff members and guests with two firearms and robbed them of their personal belongings," a statement from Van Wyk said.
"The suspects then started breaking the glass cabinet display windows in the foyer with big hammers and removed jewellery, and also took an undisclosed amount of cash from the cash register."
The suspects fled the scene shortly after the robbery.
"Police investigators have immediately activated a multi-disciplinary action team and combed the crime scene area for any evidence, detectives are following up on all leads," the statement said.
No arrests have been made as yet.
Van Wyk appealed to anyone with information about the incident to contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or the Cape Town Central police station.
Belmond have confirmed the incident in a statement.
“We can confirm that an incident occurred on Tuesday 16 July at Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel. The members of staff and four guests affected are safe and the hotel remains open as usual. The safety and security of our guests and staff is our utmost priority and we have robust security arrangements in place across our global portfolio, which we regularly review.
“We would like to thank the Belmond Mount Nelson team for their professional handling of this incident and for the support that they have provided to those present or affected. The relevant authorities have been notified and we are supporting the police with their investigation. We are unable to comment further while this investigation is ongoing.”