Paris Floods Threaten Louvre Museum Where 'Mona Lisa' Is Housed

The Louvre museum in Paris says it will be closed Friday to remove artworks from rooms threatened by rising water from the Seine River.

The museum said that on Thursday the art will be preventively moved upstairs, the Associated Press said. Its most famous painting, Leonardo da Vince's "Mona Lisa," is staying put on an upper floor.

Floods have inundated parts of France, Germany and Belgium this week, killing at least seven people and trapping thousands in homes or cars as rivers burst their banks from Paris to Germany's southern state of Bavaria.

Forecasters have warned of more torrential downpours, which are likely to worsen flood hit areas of western Europe. Thousands have been forced from their homes.

(With inputs from AP, DW and BBC)