A collection of golden bars and coins has been discovered during construction work in the East Flemish town of Dendermonde. The treasure is worth around €9 million and was found under the foundation of a building in the city centre.
The gold was discovered under the foundation of the Centre for General Welfare by Kobe, an 18-year-old student working in construction during the summer, and his colleagues. In an interview with VRT NWS, Kobe admitted that he initially didn't believe the gold was real.
"Did we believe it was real gold? At first, we had our doubts," he told VRT NWS. "But then we saw all the numbers and such on those clumps, and we realised pretty quickly that it was the real thing."
Site manager Mario was impressed by the find. "We kept unearthing more coins and bars. It was only then that it really sank in what we'd found. It was a strange feeling," he said.
The construction workers handed over the gold to the police. "We never thought about keeping our find to ourselves. No, there was so much of it: we knew we had to call the police straight away. If it's drug money, you could get into serious trouble," Kobe added.
"Will we get a reward? Maybe – that would be lovely, of course. But we don't know that yet. We're assuming we won't get anything, but if we did, that would be a nice bonus."
According to historian and former mayor of Dendermonde Piet Buyse, the gold likely belongs to the local brewer family Van Assche.
