Teenager to the rescue; finds ₹98 crore gold stash while fixing Belgian drains

Hello, how are you all, hope you are well. In today's blog we will know about Teenager to the rescue; finds ₹98 crore gold stash while fixing Belgian drains, August 18, 2026

18-year old student finds bricks in a brick vault at a summer job in Sint-Gillis and discovers gold worth over ₹98 crore.

An ordinary summer shift turned into a life changing moment for Kobe, an 18-year old student doing a seasonal construction job in the Belgian town of Sint Gillis Dendermonde. As he and his crew were laying underground drainage pipes at a historic local house, they walked straight into a secret stash of gold that has been valued at €9 million (about ₹ 98 crore).

The discovery is on the premises of the Brouwershuis, an impressive 19th-century villa built for wealthy brewery owner Theophilus Van Assche. While digging just about the foundation the crew noticed shiny metal in the ground. Kobe first thought it was worthless €1 pocket change, but the crew soon brought up gold bars, precious coins, nuggets and gold bullion marked with numbers.

The property is in the middle of a huge redevelopment by the social welfare organisation Caw Oost Vlaanderen, can turn the 18th century building into a mix of modern offices and social housing. But, unlike the people dangerously unearthing old infrastructure, the construction team had no idea that they were quirkily stomping the 18-year old worker will not, however, be walking away as a newly minted billionaire overnight, as Belgian authorities swooped in and secured the site, moving the gold to a secure vault in Brussels.

The East Flanders prosecutor’s office has opened a file to inquire about the gold’s provenance and whether it was withdrawn as part of historical wrongdoing, opening the possible prospect of an ownership dispute with the owner’s descendants, the estate’s owner and the construction company.

✍️Ujala

Scholar from University of Delhi, INDIA