Eight men who drove on to the tarmac of Brussels international airport and stole millions of dollars worth of diamonds from the hold of a Switzerland-bound plane are being hunted by police in Belgium.

Brussels prosecutor's spokeswoman Anja Bijnens said the armed and masked men crashed through the airport's perimeter fence with two cars yesterday. Within minutes they made their way to the plane, took the cache of precious stones and drove off into the darkness.

Police found a burned-out van close to the airport later last night but said they were still looking for clues.

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