The battle that rescuers fought to keep the 53-year-old alive, who was searching for gold coins in Gonnoi, Larissa, did not bear fruit. The middle-aged man lost his life despite the relentless race against time by EMAK rescue teams, despite the oxygen they provided him, despite all the selfless efforts they made. The 53-year-old also experienced a form of betrayal just before the end, as his partners, twin brothers who were wanted and will eventually testify on Monday, October 6, as they were given a deadline until then, allegedly abandoned him. In fact, a friend of the 53-year-old emphasized to MEGA that he himself fainted during his own rescue attempts and when he woke up the twins had left the area with their car.
Read: Treasure hunters dug 24 meters deep in a protected building in Veria from the occupation period
Additionally, his brother, who owns the vehicle, was arrested. The same happened to the 77-year-old who called 112, as the area is protected. He testified on Thursday afternoon, October 2, to the authorities and, according to MEGA’s report, will be tried for a felony.
The gold coins that led to death: How the twins escaped from the tunnel
However, the elderly man, speaking to MEGA, provided a chilling chronological account before rescuers arrived at the scene. He said he didn’t approach the tunnel, but commented that he offered help when the task proved harder than paper exercises: “From what I understood, the specific digging spot was known by the twin brothers but I don’t know if they knew it from a map or had a device that gave a signal. Anyway, I know we were searching for gold coins. This morning around 7:00 we started with the 53-year-old’s car to come to Gonnoi. We arrived around 9:30 and shortly after the brothers came with their own car. We were going to install the air duct today to remove debris, to have oxygen and wouldn’t do any work. All this time they had dug about 22 meters deep but I only helped with debris removal. I only tried to go down once and got scared and came back up.”
He continued with his description: “At some point the 53-year-old went inside to drop the oxygen tube for air and one of the twin brothers was shouting at him and I wasn’t getting a response. He went down too and felt bad due to lack of oxygen and couldn’t come up. Together with his brother we pulled him up and as soon as we got outside he fainted. I gave him oxygen and he started to recover. I went back inside to get his brother who had mobility problems and managed to get him out too. After they recovered, I was exhausted from the effort and from exhaustion I fell down and must have lost consciousness for a very short time. When I came to, the brothers had left without their cars.”
Forensic examination and questions
The 53-year-old’s fall, painful as it was, does not appear to have caused his death. The forensic examination reveals that the 53-year-old suffered a ruptured spleen and broken ribs from an 8-meter fall as well as from stones that fell on him. The toxicological tests are considered the most critical element in determining the cause of death. The same applies to what the 53-year-old inhaled, such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, or methane.
