A French mountaineer was left stunned after finding a metal box that contained emeralds, rubies and sapphires worth hundreds of thousands of Euros whilst scaling the Mont Blanc glacier in the Alps. The treasure is believed to have belonged to a passenger on one of two Air India planes that crashed in 1950 and 1966.

The climber, who wishes to remain anonymous, saw the box lying in the ice. When he opened it found several little bags marked with the words “Made in India”.

He has since handed the treasure over to the French authorities who will contact their Indian counterparts to try to trace the owner. Under French law, the jewellery could be handed over to the mountaineer if the owners are not identified. Score!

[Source : The Local, DNA]