Construction workers carrying out renovations on a property in east Flanders, Belgium, have uncovered a trove of gold bars and coins concealed within the cellar walls, with the haul estimated to be worth around €9m (£7.6m).
The builders made the remarkable find earlier this week while drilling to install new sewage pipes at the site in Dendermonde, a Flemish town of roughly 47,000 residents.
The house is owned by CAW Oost-Vlaanderen, a local welfare charity, raising immediate questions about who stands to benefit from the fortune.
Under Belgian civil law, both the construction team who unearthed the gold and the charity that holds the property could ultimately have a claim to the hidden treasure.
Among the crew was Kobe, an 18-year-old student on a summer job, who was working on the building's foundations when the stash came to light.
"Our first reaction was actually disbelief, amazement," he told Belgian public broadcaster VRT. "At first I thought they were €1 coins. But then we also saw a gold nugget lying there. That's when we realised it was something bigger."
The workers promptly contacted the authorities, acknowledging that concealing such a vast haul was never a realistic prospect.
"There are so many coins and bars - it would be almost impossible," site manager Mario told VRT. "Besides, that would be theft."
Kobe echoed the sentiment: "€9m – you simply can't keep that hidden."
Police moved the entire haul to a secure location after thoroughly searching the property, which they said had been "turned upside down" during the operation.
Officers also issued a public appeal urging people not to descend on the active building site in search of further riches.
In a lighthearted touch, the local force changed its Facebook profile picture to an image of a gold coin, adding that it hoped the discovery would end up in "the right place" and transform lives.
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Geert Hillaert, director of CAW Oost-Vlaanderen, said his initial reaction was one of "surprise and amazement."
He expressed hope that the treasure might ultimately fund the charity's welfare services, citing the "enormous need we experience daily" in the community it supports across the Dendermonde area.
The local prosecutor has opened an investigation into the origins of the gold, though authorities have said the rightful owner remains unknown at this stage.
Belgian law grants any legitimate owner a five-year window — up to 1,823 days — in which to step forward and claim the hoard.
Should nobody successfully establish ownership within that period, civil law dictates that hidden treasure discovered on another party's property must be divided between the person who found it and the landowner.
There is one significant caveat, however: the gold must not be connected to any criminal activity for that provision to apply.
For now, both the building crew and the charity face a potentially lengthy wait to learn whether the fortune will eventually come their way.
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