Kim Kardashian bravely freed herself by "wriggling her hands" after five masked men bound her wrists and ankles with zip ties and left her in a bathtub during her terrifying robbery ordeal in Paris.
Kim feared she was going to be raped during the break-in that left her tied up in her luxury Paris apartment as men dressed as police officers stole millions of dollars worth of jewellery.
But once they had gone she managed to break free from the restraints and scream for help from her balcony.
Kim had been asleep in just a robe early Monday when she heard the robbers barreling up the stairs of her two-story apartment behind La Madeleine church in the city's 8th arrondissement, TMZ reported.
She was halfway through dialling her bodyguard when her phone was snatched out of her hands. Meanwhile, her quick-thinking friend Simone Harouche sprung from her bed downstairs and locked herself in a bathroom, the website reported.
The fashion stylist and long-time friend of the Kardashians called Kim's personal bodyguard Pascal Duvier, who was out at the Arc nightclub with Kourtney and Kendall less than two miles away.
Kim Kardashian feared she was going to be raped when five masked men raided her Paris apartment Monday. Pictured, Kim, with a huge ring on her hand, at a private dinner on Sunday with sister Kourtney Kardashian and designer Azzedine Alaia. Photo / Getty Images
Meanwhile, the 35-year-old reality star begged for her life, screaming that she had two children as five masked men bound her wrists and ankles before leaving her in the bathtub.
Kim managed to squeeze her hands out of the wrist ties by "wriggling her hands," a source told People. Another source said she "screamed from the balcony" after freeing herself, which is when her friend Harouche heard her.
Kim, who later told police she feared she was going to be raped, didn't understand the French-speaking robbers amidst the chaotic scene.
But she heard them repeating "ring, ring" before she realized they were searching for the 20-carat emerald-cut Lorraine Schwartz ring given to her by husband Kanye West, according to TMZ.
She soon told them where she left the ring, which is worth a reported $4.5million and last seen on Kim's finger in a Snapchat post earlier that night.
The men, who entered the building after holding the concierge at gunpoint, also stole a jewelry box worth $6.7 million before escaping on rented bicycles available throughout the city.
Kim's bodyguard, who managed to return to the apartment two minutes after the men escaped, was blasted for allowing the shocking security lapse while former guard Steve Stanulis suggested it was an inside job.
Kim was seen boarding a private jet on Monday morning with her head covered in a black scarf, while a concerned Kanye met her at the airport in New York.
As the couple walked into their home in Manhattan with a huge security presence posted outside, Kim's engagement ring was notably missing from her finger.
Photos of Kim's hand on arrival back in the US show she is not wearing her engagement rock. Photo / Getty
But a source close to the case said: "She's very pleased to be heading back to the United States. She has given a full statement for the police."
While her security team was blasted for allowing the robbers to reach her Paris bedroom, Duvier boarded the star's private jet back to the US along with Kim's assistant.
Just hours before the raid, he tweeted that "you don't become a bodyguard overnight...it's a job with dedication, responsibility and passion."
He expressed his commitment to finding the perpetrators and said: "The events that occurred in Paris was one of the most sickening things I have seen or heard.
"We have tips and leads and we will find you. That I promise you...you messed with the wrong one."
The bodyguard has been at Kim and Kanye's side since 2014 and stands at 6'4" and weighs a hefty 264 pounds.
He made his comments on a personal internet blog tonight where he also re-posted media profiles of himself after the robbery.
Steve Stanulis, a security specialist who last worked for Kim and Kanye during the Met Gala in May, blamed the star for broadcasting her jewellery on social media. He also suggested possibilities of an inside job.
He told Dailymail.com: "Look, they had this coming to them. They do not respect the importance of security when you have a profile as strong as theirs.
"I saw this happening. It just had to with the way Kim flaunts her riches and her diamonds."
He also told Page Six: "I would say it's either an inside job or publicity stunt. That hotel is so secure, somebody must have tipped them off that she was alone inside, or shown them a way in."
In the star's last Snapchat post before she was robbed, she was seen wearing a stunning Lorraine Schwartz engagement ring while Facetiming her future sister-in-law Blac Chyna at her baby shower just two hours before the incident.
She was also seen wearing the dazzler hours earlier when she and sister Kourtney arrived at the Alaia showroom.
The rock was given to her by Kanye just last month. He proposed to Kim back in 2013 with another Lorraine Schwartz ring thought to be worth upwards of $1.6million.
While the exact pieces that were taken haven't been confirmed, Kim had been wearing her newest ring in multiple social media posts, as well as during her outings in Paris.
On Monday morning, Kim was seen without either of the rings on her finger.
Kim also lost two of her prized smart phones, which are likely to contain a great deal of personal information.
An eye witness described the moment that French police stormed into the Paris apartment to free Kim from the violent jewel-robbing gang.
Rough-sleeper Marion Marionescu told MailOnline how he was woken in the early hours of Monday morning by police sirens as he slept in a Paris Metro station.
And he told how he watched squadrons of heavily armed officers rush into the exclusive Hotel Portales in the centre of the French capital.
Marionesuc, who is in his 30s, told MailOnline: "I was settling down to sleep after returning to my spot after wandering the streets when I was woken by lots of police sirens.
"There were so many police cars I knew it was not something normal. I went up to the street to see what was happening. There were lots of police cars.
"And there were all of these policemen going into the building. They had their guns out. There were officers in uniform and others in plain clothes.
"I had no idea what was going on but I didn't want to ask because I didn't want to get involved."
The mother-of-two, who was in the city for Paris Fashion Week, is "badly shaken but physically unharmed," a spokesperson told DailyMail.com.
Husband Kanye West was told of the raid halfway through a headline performance at the Meadow Music and Art Festival in New York, and immediately cancelled the set.
Their daughter, North, three, and 10-month-old son Saint, are not believed to have been in the room at the time.
The actress' family was placed under police protection at the George V palace in Paris after the incident.
Kim had attended the Balenciaga and Givenchy shows at Paris Fashion Week earlier on Sunday before going for a meal with friends.
A barman who works opposite Kim's flat said: "She's been popping in and out all the time.
"It's always the same drill - a people carrier with dark windows turns up, along with the paparazzi and then we see her. Unfortunately too many people seem to know that she lives here!"
A photographer, who has been following Kim since she arrived in Paris, is being questioned by police. He is said to have gained access to a restaurant where she and her family were dining earlier this week by posing as a policeman.
The raid occurred while Kim was staying in a discreet luxury residence frequented by celebrities and wealthy individuals.
The Kardashian home is located in the Hotel Pourtalès, which operates as a portered building with nine apartments designed for multi-millionaires rather than an actual hotel.
The exclusive residence was originally built in 1839 and classified as a historic monument in 2002.
According to Page Six, Kanye owns the apartment. "It's their home," a source said. Kim has stayed there at least once before, in 2014, before her marriage to West.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the Manchester United football star, lived in the building for a time while playing for Paris St Germain. Ibrahimovic's flat in the Paris block was rented for $32,000 a month and the fee included a private cook, chauffer and 24 hour concierge. Others who have stayed there over the years include the late rock star Prince, Madonna, and Leonardo Di Caprio.
The concierge attacked during Monday's raid was left tied up, gagged, and hidden in a cupboard in the stairwell of the building, said investigating sources.
The building has "hidden entrances" for stars trying to avoid the paparazzi, according to a neighbour. The top floor flat, which stretches across 350 square meters, has a private roof garden and Jacuzzi. Other members of the Kardashian clan have been staying at the George V hotel during fashion week.
Kim's spokesperson Ina Treciokas told DailyMail.com: "Kim Kardashian West was held up at gunpoint inside her Paris hotel room this evening by armed masked men dressed as police officers.
"She is badly shaken but physically unharmed."
Hidalgo added in a statement that she is fully confident that police forces will quickly identify and arrest those suspected of robbing the U.S. star.
Hidalgo insisted in her statement that the robbery "in no way calls into question police work or security of public space" in Paris.
Shortly after the incident, Kanye West ended his concert at Meadows Festival in Queens, New York on Sunday due to a "family emergency".
The Meadows Festival is organised by the creators of The Governors Ball. Kanye had been due to play the ball on its third and final day back in June but it was cancelled due to rainstorms.
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West with her enagement ring. Photo / AP
Many fans took to Twitter expressing their anger that the 39-year-old had walked offstage on Sunday night and there was booing in the crowd. They also said that he was 30 to 40 minutes late for his scheduled performance.
In a fan recorded video, the father-of-two could be seen in the middle of performing his 2008 hit Heartless when an aide came on stage to tell him the news.
He then said: "I'm sorry. I have a family emergency. I have to stop the show."
The crowd was obviously stunned at the shock announcement as Kanye quickly walked off the stage, ending his set 20 minutes early despite showing up 30 minutes late.
One Twitter user at the event named Stephen Dacres described the scene as he wrote: "Kanye's assistant pulled him to the side of the stage then Ye got on the mic saying he had a family emergency then stopped the show #Meadows."
The Meadows New York City made the announcement that the show was over via Twitter as they wrote: "Due to an emergency, Kanye West had to end his performance early. Please get home safely."
Paris has been a special place for Kardashian-West and her husband, who spent the weekend there before marrying in Florence in May of 2014.
Questions are now being raised about the security protocols that were in place when Kim was robbed.
Michael Jackson's former bodyguard blasted Kim's "joke" security team and said she should be worried about being shot in large crowds as she is "probably more recognisable than the American president."
Matt Fiddes, who worked as Jackson's bodyguard for more than 10 years, said he was stunned the robbers had even got past the front door of the luxury Hotel de Pourtalès she was staying in - let alone to her bedroom.
Kardashian was not under protection from her main bodyguard Pascal when she was robbed and had a gun pointed at her head.
Speaking to MailOnline, Fiddes said: "The only people to blame are her security team. She is the most high profile female celebrity in the world...she is probably more recognisable than the American president.
"She has millions of fans and she should have had security prepared.
"When I was with Michael it just wouldn't have happened. The robbers wouldn't have got past the front door, let alone to her bedroom."
Earlier this week, Kim had a scare of different kind as a prankster named Vitalii Sediuk slipped past security and tried to tackle her - appearing to try to kiss her famous behind.
Luckily he was stopped before reaching the TV superstar and was pinned to the ground by her bodyguard Pascal.
It also comes just a week after the 27-year-old was elbowed in the face by supermodel Gigi Hadid after he lifted her up on the street during Milan Fashion Week.
In 2014, Kim and Kanye were forced to beef up their security after the attack by Sediuk.
After the shocking armed robbery in Paris they are likely to rethink their security again.
