A routine sewer project beneath a former brewery in Dendermonde turned into a multimillion-dollar treasure hunt when workers uncovered gold bars and coins worth an estimated $10.4 million. Police secured the haul, but the discovery has shifted quickly from construction surprise to a question of lawful ownership.

The account from Belgian reporting presents the find as an extraordinary but orderly event. Workers alerted police immediately, officers cataloged the gold, and the collection was transferred to a high-security federal vault. One worker, Kobe, described the first reaction as “disbelief, surprise,” while project leader Mario called it a “crazy feeling.”¹ Their statements emphasize astonishment—and, notably, restraint rather than an attempt to hide or divide the treasure.

That restraint matters because the workers are not automatically entitled to keep the discovery. Under Belgian law, the rightful owner has five years to claim the gold. Mario acknowledged that retaining it would amount to theft, while Kobe said he hoped for a finder’s fee.¹ The welfare organization that owns the building, meanwhile, reportedly hopes the money could help address the community’s “enormous need.”¹

The supplied political material offers no rival interpretation of the Belgian discovery. Instead, it concerns a separate dispute over proposed Islamic ablution facilities at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, portraying the cancellation as the result of pressure from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.² Its inclusion alongside the gold report underscores a sharp contrast: the Belgian story is a local legal and historical puzzle, while the Texas article is an explicitly political conflict. Police have warned treasure hunters away from the fenced construction site, saying dangerous pits remain and all the gold has been removed.¹