Thousands of euros disappear after thieves throw safe out of car
Tens of thousands of euros disappeared in minutes as high value bank notes "rained" onto the street of a Belgian town after robbers threw a safe full of cash out the window of their getaway car while fleeing the police.
Belgian bystanders could not believe their luck as the 50, 100 and 200 euro notes flew through the air to carpet a one hundred yard stretch of a street in Zedelgem last weekend.
"It was as if it had been raining money," Jose Maertens, a local resident told the Het Nieuwsblad newspaper. "I just could not believe it. It was big money. Everyone was over the moon."
The Belgian authorities have warned residents that unless they hand in the cash then they could face jail sentences but the police have so far only recovered €11,000 (£9,300) - a fraction of total contained in the safe.
Mr Maertens confessed that he had tried to make off with more than €10,000 in cash but had been stopped by police who paused in their hot pursuit of the burglars to try and stop people picking up tens of thousands of euros strewn in the road.
"I had two rolls with a hundred banknotes of €50 and also some loose notes of 100 and 200 euros," he said.
"The police just grabbed the money out of my hands. I could have kicked myself. How could I be so stupid to not immediately go inside? You really get such a chance once in your life."
The story emerged on Thursday when the judicial authorities made a public statment expressing anger that so many people have decided not to return the money they picked up.
"Those who just stole our money should be ashamed. Agreed, there's no name on those banknotes but they would have known that it belonged to someone," said Jean-Marie Berkvens, the local prosecutor.
The owner of the safe has not been named and has declined to tell the authorities how much cash was in the safe.
"It was not wise of us to save so much money in the safe. Our confidence in the banks is simply so low that we decided to keep such large amounts in the house," he said.
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