Associated Press
A search for what German treasure hunters claim is a human-made cavern full of treasures plundered by the Nazis could continue for weeks, an official said Thursday.
On the third day of drilling at a site near the Czech border, the search had yet to produce results. The company carrying out the work said it had drilled 11 holes at two locations so far.
Mayor Heinz-Peter Haustein has been working with Christian Hanisch, who found a notebook among the belongings of his father, a former air force radio operator who died last year. Hanisch came to Haustein after discovering that the book indicated treasure might be buried near the area.
"It could take a while—mining takes time," Haustein said Thursday. "All in all, it could take weeks, because we are going to drill through this area so thoroughly ... that we can be certain" what is buried there.
Amber Room
Haustein has said that coordinates from the notebook are corroborated by eyewitnesses who reported seeing forced laborers building a bunker-like depot near the hillside. He claims that a sophisticated scan for precious metals indicated that the hillside contained a large quantity of gold or silver.
Haustein said last week that he was convinced the hunters had found the storied Amber Room treasure. (See video.)
He later acknowledged that while there could be "cultural treasures" in the cavern, such as paintings or amber paneling, they are not things that show up with a metal detector.
Experts have been skeptical of the claim.
The Amber Room—named for magnificent wall panels of amber—was stolen by the Nazis from a palace outside St. Petersburg during World War II and has not been recovered in its entirety.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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