Construction workers stumbled upon a metal safe carefully concealed within a wall while demolishing a partition in a building belonging to CAW Oost-Vlaanderen, a social welfare centre. Inside, they found gold bars and coins with an estimated value approaching €9 million. After notifying their supervisor about the find, the police were called to the scene.
Officers in Dendermonde confirmed on Facebook that the gold had been seized and transferred to a secure federal government vault. Accompanying their announcement with photographs, police wryly remarked that "in these situations, silence is golden", while assuring the public that the entire haul had been inventoried and secured.
Authorities have yet to determine either the origins of the safe or why it was hidden in the building. They have cautioned would-be treasure hunters against searching the site for more gold, noting that the premises are fenced off, contain several dangerous shafts, and have already been thoroughly inspected. Police warned that everything has been recovered safely so there is no need to take unnecessary risks.
Although the discovery seems like something out of a film, the mysterious treasure is now in the hands of the Belgian state, pending further investigation into its provenance.
