Polish authorities have confirmed that a Nazi train that vanished in the last days of the Second World War has been found — reigniting feverish speculation that it stores treasure stolen by the Third Reich.
Zygmunt Nowaczyk, the deputy mayor of Walbrzych, said that the train was detected in tunnels under the town.
It followed claims last week from two men, a Pole and a German, who said that they had used radar to locate it 210ft below ground in a sealed-off labyrinth that had been carved out by slave labourers. They are seeking 15 per cent of the value of the cargo.
Residents of the town, in southeastern Poland, have long told of a Nazi train trundling west with plundered Polish gold and treasure and hidden in a sealed tunnel as the regime was overrun by the Red Army. Mr Nowaczyk said: “The train has been discovered and is of a military nature.”
Officials insisted that no treasure had yet been found. Fortune hunters armed with metal detectors descended on the town last week after news of the discovery spread.
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The Nazis sent plundered valuables back to Germany to fund the war effort. Among the treasures never recovered is the Amber Room, a lavish chamber decorated with gold-backed panels that was stolen from a Russian palace near Leningrad. It is thought to be worth £200 million. Some reports have suggested that it is in a tunnel leading to Walbrzych castle. Whatever the train contains will be the property of the Polish state. It is not known whether any profits will be split with the two men who found it. The Polish military has secured the site while investigations continue this weekend.