The cost of rail travel has soared in recent years but a mystery train passenger paid a far greater price when they lost £150,000 worth of gold during their journey.
The owner has five years to reclaim the haul, which was found last October on a train that had travelled from St Gallen to Lucerne, about 30 miles south of Zurich, reports the BBC.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Officials say they have now gone public about the find after “extensive investigations” failed to reveal the origins of the gold, which is in the keeping of the Lucerne public prosecutor’s office, according to The Independent.
The office has already received “a number of queries” about the valuable lost property, the newspaper adds, but “it remains unclear how authorities will verify the claims of anyone who comes forward”.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For a round-up of the most important stories from around the world - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news agenda - try The Week magazine. Start your trial subscription today –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
The loss of the valuable gold is “eye-popping even for a wealthy Alpine country with a high cost, and standard, of living”, adds The Guardian.
In a similar incident three years ago, authorities in Geneva found wads of cut-up €500 notes “mysteriously jammed into the toilets of three restaurants and a bank in separate episodes”, says the newspaper.
The shredded notes reportedly “appeared to have come from a safe deposit box in Geneva belonging to unidentified Spanish women”.
A lawyer for the women subsequently came forward and offered to pay for the damage caused to the plumbing at the restaurants and bank, according to Swiss paper Tribune de Geneve.
-
6 homes with incredible balconiesFeature Featuring a graceful terrace above the trees in Utah and a posh wraparound in New York City
-
Did Alex Pretti’s killing open a GOP rift on guns?Talking Points Second Amendment groups push back on the White House narrative
-
The 8 best hospital dramas of all timethe week recommends From wartime period pieces to of-the-moment procedurals, audiences never tire of watching doctors and nurses do their lifesaving thing
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
Fire at Swiss ski resort bar kills 40, injures 115Speed Read
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
