LUCKNOW, India: India ended a search for treasure beneath a 19th century fort after finding only a few bones and terracotta bricks but none of the gold predicted by a Hindu holy man’s dream, an official said Friday.
The search began Oct. 18 in Uttar Pradesh state in northern India after Hindu swami Shobhan Sarkar told a government minister that a former king appeared to him in a dream and told him of a nearly $50 billion cache.
The leader of the dig, Praveen Kumar Mishra, said the hunt had been suspended.
The opposition said the government search was triggered by the holy man’s dream.
The Geological Survey of India earlier said it found signs of heavy metal about 20 meters (66 feet) underground and decided to dig the area in Unnao district, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of the state’s capital of Lucknow.
However, Mishra said Friday that appeared to have been an error.
The state-run Archaeological Survey of India found some artifacts and reached sediments of calcium carbonates in the first trench, Mishra said.
There was no hope of finding any archaeological objects beyond that as the diggers hit rocks in the second trench, he told The Associated Press.
“There is no indication of (the presence) any alloy as reported by the GSI team,” Mishra said in his report.
Indian treasure hunt based on dream finds no gold
Indian treasure hunt based on dream finds no gold
Coast Guard rescue 52 migrants off Greece, boy missing
- They found 13 migrants who had arrived on the small, uninhabited island
- Another 39 migrants were found on board an inflatable boat off the southern island of Crete
ATHENS: Greek coast guard were searching Thursday for a missing child off the island of Farmakonisi after rescuing 52 migrants in two separate incidents in the Aegean Sea, local media reported.
They found 13 migrants who had arrived on the small, uninhabited island, but one boy was reported missing from the group, said the ANA news agency.
Another 39 migrants were found on board an inflatable boat off the southern island of Crete, according to the same source. They were taken to the village of Kaloi Limenes in Crete. No details about their nationality were provided.
Two coast guard vessels and an airforce helicopter were deployed for the operation off Farmakonisi, opposite the Turkish coast.
Many migrants try to reach the Greek islands from Turkiye or Libya as a way of entering the European Union. But both crossings are perilous.
Earlier this month, 17 people were found dead in a migrant boat drifting off Crete. Another 15 people were reported missing. The vessel had set off from the Libyan port of Tobruk and most of those who died were from Sudan or Egypt.
The UN refugee agency said more than 16,770 asylum seekers in the EU have arrived on Crete since the start of the year — more than any other island in the Aegean Sea.
