An extraordinary discovery was made during renovation work at a property in Belgium, where gold bars and coins estimated to be worth around €9 million were uncovered.
Të lidhura
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The construction team, tasked with repairing pipes in the basement of a building in East Flanders, was stunned to find the treasure while demolishing walls.
Now that the initial shock has subsided, the main question is who the fortune belongs to, as both the contractors and the charity that owns the property may claim it if the rightful owner is not identified.
The workers made the discovery while digging into the structure’s foundations. A student named Kobe told public broadcaster VRT: “Our first reaction was sheer disbelief, a genuine surprise.”
He added that they initially thought they had come across ordinary €1 coins, but after seeing a piece of gold, they immediately realized it was something far more significant.
Both the young student and the construction site manager admitted that they were unable to keep the incident secret, so they immediately notified the police.
The property currently belongs to CAW Oost-Vlaanderen, an organization that provides social services in Dedmonton, a Flemish town with nearly 47,000 residents.
Its director, Gert Hillaert, said his first reaction was “astonishment,” adding that he hoped the gold would contribute to the charity’s mission and help meet the considerable daily needs it faces.
The police, who even changed their Facebook profile picture to an image of a gold coin, said they hoped the find would end up in the “right place” and warned avid treasure hunters that the items had already been moved to a secure location.
Under Belgian law, the rightful owner has five years to claim the treasure, although the local prosecutor, who has already launched an investigation, clarified that there are still no clues regarding the owner’s identity.
If no claimant comes forward, civil law stipulates that property hidden on someone else’s land must be divided equally between the finder and the property owner, even if it is determined to have no connection to criminal activity.
Both the workers and the charity now face a wait of up to 1,823 days to see whether an owner comes forward.
