They turned crap into gold.
A routine renovation job in Belgium took an unexpected turn on Tuesday after builders happened upon a gold hoard worth over $10 million while installing a sewer system.
“Our first reaction was actually disbelief,” an 18-year-old student worker named Kobe told local media outlet VRT while recalling the unexpected haul. “Of course, we hadn’t expected to find gold.”
His crew had been tasked with overhauling a building in the Flemish community of Sint-Gillis-Dendermonde, around a 40-minute drive from Brussels.
The workers were reportedly removing the foundation so they could lay a sewer pipe when they “suddenly saw something lying there,” Kobe recounted.
Initially believing it was a cache of 1-Euro coins, the crew quickly realized that was not the case after spotting a gold nugget.
“I went to look and took the gold in my hands,” recalled site manager Mario. “We kept digging up new coins and bars as well. Only then did it really sink in what we had found. That was a crazy feeling.”
He added, “After 33 years in construction, it is the first time I have experienced something like this.”
All told, the stash of ingots and bullion amounted to around 9 million Euros or around $10.4 million USD.
Unfortunately for them, this was not a case of finders keepers — the crew was forced to hand over the precious metals to the police, who explained to them that pocketing it was verboten.
“There are so many coins and bars — it would be almost impossible,” said Mario. “Besides, that would be theft.”
The loot is currently in the hands of CAW Oost-Vlaanderen, an organization that provides welfare support to the residents of Dendermonde, the BBC reported.
They hope to use the riches to support their charity work.
Nonetheless, this hasn’t stopped dozens of people from flocking to the site in search of loot, VRT reported.
Dendermonde police even warned “gold diggers” to stay away as there is “nothing left to see and it is also dangerous, because the building is being completely demolished.”
It’s yet unclear to whom the hoard belongs, although historian and former mayor of Dendermonde Piet Buyse speculated that it’s the property of local brewer family Van Assche, the Brussels Times reported.
Under Belgian law, the rightful owner has five years to lay claim to the fortune. If they don’t, the forgotten gold can be divided between the finder and property owner provided it’s not associated with a crime.
Kobe, for one, is holding out hope that his role in the discovery will be rewarded.
“Of course, we do hope we’ll get a ‘finder’s fee,’” he said. “That would be nice.”
