Watch: Locals In China Dig For ₹12 Crore Worth Of Gold Washed Away In Flash Flood
A sudden flash flood swept away 20 kilograms of gold and silver jewellery from a local shop.
A sudden flash flood in Wuqi County, located in China's Shaanxi Province, triggered chaos after nearly 20 kilograms of gold and silver jewellery were swept away from a local gold shop. The incident, which occurred on the morning of July 25, left both the shop staff and residents searching for the missing valuables.
Water Rushed In Before Staff Could React
As reported by The Standard, the jewellery store named Laofengxiang was hit just as staff arrived to open for the day. According to the shop's owner, Ye, staff members had stayed overnight to keep watch and had not moved the jewellery into the safes. When flood warnings were issued that morning, all inventory was still out on display.
Within minutes, water surged through the front entrance and rose to over one meter. The powerful current burst through the shop and swept away display cabinets and trays filled with jewellery.
Jewellery, Safe And Cash Missing
Ye shared that the missing items included gold necklaces, bangles, rings, earrings, pendants, diamond rings, jade pieces and silver ornaments. The store's safe, which contained new inventory, recycled gold and a large amount of cash, was also missing.
Based on current market prices, the total value of the washed-away items is estimated to exceed 10 million yuan (approximately Rs 12 crore).
Ye's son, Xiaoye, told The Standard that the family and shop staff spent two days searching the area after the flood. So far, they have managed to recover around one kilogram of jewellery. Some items were returned voluntarily by residents.
The store's CCTV system was down and failed to record the incident due to power outages during the flooding. This has made it difficult to track how the valuables were swept away or who might have picked them up.
Once the news spread, residents began rushing to the area in hopes of finding lost items. Images and videos shared online showed people combing through the mud to search for the items. The report mentioned that some even used metal detectors in a thorough search.
A gold shop in Wuqi County, Shaanxi says around 20kg of jewelry was lost in recent floods. About 1kg has been recovered so far. Police are investigating, and local authorities are urging anyone who found gold to return it. #Shaanxi #floods pic.twitter.com/kZQsaLqJnz — Spill the China (@SpilltheChina) July 27, 2025
'Some residents reported seeing others picking up jewellery, but no one has come forward to return any items," Xiaoye said. He appealed to anyone who found jewellery to return it to the store. He also announced a reward proportional to the value of the returned items.
Xiaoye also warned that the store would take legal action if anyone was found intentionally keeping the lost jewellery.
As per the report, local authorities, including the Market Supervision Bureau and the Public Security Bureau, have launched an investigation into the matter.
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