Gold worth over $10m found inside wall during renovation work in Belgium
Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.
At a glance
- Construction workers in Dendermonde, Belgium, discovered a large stash of gold bars and coins worth over $10 million during renovations.
- The gold was found bricked into the cellar walls of a building owned by a local charity, CAW East-Flanders.
- Police have secured the treasure and cautioned treasure hunters to stay away from the site, as the legal ownership remains unclear.
A routine renovation project in the Belgian town of Dendermonde took an extraordinary turn this week when construction workers unearthed a treasure trove of gold, reportedly valued at over $10 million.
Our first reaction was actually disbelief, amazement.
The discovery occurred on Tuesday during groundwork to lay a pipe for the sewerage system in the cellar of a house undergoing renovation. The building belongs to CAW East-Flanders, a local charity. Workers were astonished to find approximately 50 gold bars and piles of gold coins hidden within the walls.
"Our first reaction was actually disbelief, amazement," one worker, identified only as Kobe, told Belgian news outlet VRT. "We certainly hadn't expected to find gold."
We certainly hadn't expected to find gold.
Police were immediately alerted and swiftly secured the hoard. Photographs of the gold bars and coins were published on the police department's Facebook page, sparking considerable public interest. The police department even changed its profile picture to a gold coin in light of the find.
A golden piece of advice: it is truly pointless.
Authorities have inventoried and transferred the gold to a high-security federal government vault. However, the legal ownership of the treasure remains undetermined. In a Facebook post, police issued a warning to potential treasure hunters, stating, "A golden piece of advice: it is truly pointless," and cautioned the curious to stay away from the fenced-off construction site. The question of who will ultimately possess the gold is yet to be answered, with police expressing hope that it "ends up in the right hands."
Let us hope that this treasure ends up in the right hands.
Originally published by Gulf Today. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.