Durban - Following a multimillion-dollar treasure hoard found off Namibia’s coast recently, a team of treasure hunters descended on Umhlanga Beach early on Wednesday after claiming they received a tip-off that ancient riches might be buried under the sand.
Earlier this month, diamond miners discovered a ship believed to have gone down 500 years ago after draining a man-made lagoon on Namibia’s coast. Shipwrecks have often been found along the Skeleton Coast, but the miners scored with this discovery as it was loaded with about $13 million (R197 million) worth of gold coins.
Now a Allie Albert, who says he is a “detectorist”, says he led a team of 24, plus assistants, who were on the beach the whole day on Wednesday to plot the most likely areas where the treasure could be buried.
Sceptics thought it might be a publicity stunt.
Albert said they were motivated after the discovery in Namibia, as the coast of Durban also had vessels laden with wealth passing by over the centuries.
He claimed they had received a tip-off, the details of which, and from whom it had come, he could not reveal. People who bathed at Umhlanga Beach seemed to have no idea what might be buried there.
“It truly is exciting as rumours have been circulating for some time that there is a possibility that treasure is buried and it is not uncommon to find valuable coins and jewellery, dating back hundreds of years, on South African beaches,” he said.
“A professional search takes no less than 48 hours in an area of this size.
“We need to cover our bases and ensure we search every inch,” he said.
The team has security personnel on site, hired to guard the team. While working, they interacted with the public who seemed interested in what they were doing.
Some were searching in the water using waterproofed detectors. So far they had found only modern coins, but the search resumes this morning.