Four die in a cave looking for Japanese treasure
Decades after WWII, many Filipinos continue to be haunted by the myth of the spoils of war that General Yamashita is supposed to have buried in tunnels. Some even lose their life in the hunt for the hidden treasure.
Davao (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Four people have reportedly suffocated to death in a cave in search of a treasure dating back to the Second World War. The sad incident occurred on Sunday on the island of Mindanao.
The victims were hunting for the fabled Yamashita treasure, spoils of war allegedly stolen in Southeast Asia by Japanese imperial forces during World War II and said to be hidden in underground caves or tunnels in the Philippines.
Rescuers found one body, while the other three presumably died exploring a cave in Kadingilan, a town in Bukidnon province.
The victims were part of a group of eight treasure hunters who had entered the Sitio Tinago cave in the Cabadiangan barangay in search of the precious goods.
Kadingilan Police Chief Capt Larry Mahlin said that a nearby police station sent a distress radio message, saying that the treasure hunters had contacted them asking for help.
Rescuers were not able to enter the underground cave because of carbon monoxide.
The Yamashita treasure is named after General Tomoyuki Yamashita who, according to a popular legend in the Philippines, buried tonnes of gold and other stolen items in caves and underground tunnels, with the intention of recovering them after the war.
In the first decades after World War II, the quest for this gold became an obsession in the country even though important historians have raised serious doubts about the treasure’s very existence.
Still, even today some still try their luck in this very dangerous enterprise. Last July, a group of five people were rescued as they were about to suffocate in a tunnel at a depth of 30 metres in the Puerto Princesa area, Padan Archipelago.
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24/10/2019 17:56
