An 18-year-old student working a summer job has uncovered a hoard of gold estimated to be worth £8 million ($10 million) while digging trenches for a new sewage system in Belgium.
The teenager, identified only as Kobe, was working with construction crews at a former brewery site in Sint-Gillis-Dendermonde, around 30 kilometres north-west of Brussels, when workers uncovered the stash. They initially thought they had found ordinary €1 coins before discovering gold bars among the hoard, which also contains gold coins and nuggets.
The discovery does not mean Kobe can simply take the gold home. Police have secured the hoard at a government facility in Brussels while the East Flanders Public Prosecutor's Office investigates its origins and determines who could legally claim it.
Who Could Legally Claim the Treasure?
Belgian law sets out rules for found property and hidden valuables, with ownership depending on how the treasure was discovered and whether its original owner can be identified.
Belgian and international media reports have said a potential owner has five years to come forward. If no legitimate owner is found, the finder and property owner could potentially have claims to the treasure, although the final outcome will depend on the authorities' findings.
Possible claimants include the construction company that uncovered the gold, CAW Oost-Vlaanderen, which owns the property, and descendants of the Van Assche family.
The East Flanders Public Prosecutor's Office is investigating whether the gold could be stolen property or the proceeds of criminal activity. Hanne Ollevier of the prosecutor's office told Belgian media that the ownership question could ultimately lead to a civil dispute.
The gold remains in government custody and no ownership claim has been awarded.
Gold Found Behind a Bricked-Up Wall
Kobe told Belgian broadcaster VTM that workers initially thought they had found ordinary €1 coins while excavating the site, only to realise they had uncovered something far more valuable when they found a gold bar.
The gold had been concealed in a bag inside a bricked-up section of the cellar beneath a late 19th-century villa. The property was originally built for brewery owner Theophilus Van Assche, whose initials remain on the wrought-iron gates.
Brewing at the site began in 1899 and ended in 1970. The listed property is now being renovated by social welfare organisation CAW Oost-Vlaanderen, which plans to create new offices and housing there. Workers were laying drainage pipes when they uncovered the stash.
Police Secure The £8m Hoard
The gold was inventoried and moved to a high-security government facility in Brussels while authorities investigate its history and ownership. Local police have also warned members of the public not to visit the construction site looking for additional valuables.
Former Dendermonde mayor Piet Buyse told HLN that the Van Assche family's wealth had remained within the family and suggested it was possible that some of it had been converted into gold and hidden. That remains speculation, and authorities have not established a connection between the family and the hoard.
Kobe said he and his colleagues understood that they had to report the discovery because of its value. He hopes the legal process could eventually result in a finder's reward.
