Following the recent disaster in Japan Justin McCurry of The Guardian reports how unopened safes have been found amongst the wreckage and handed in to the authorities.
Reports suggest that huge sums of cash and valuables are lying unclaimed with Police confirming they are receiving several hundred items containing cash every day. Safes are commonplace in Japanese homes and the total runs into tens of millions of yen.
The Guardian notes:
With little prospect of the money ever finding its way to its rightful owners, calls are growing for it to be donated to the relief effort. In less chaotic times, lost valuables are kept for three months and given to the person who found them, provided they are not reunited with their owner. The national police agency, meanwhile, has granted officers permission to break open the many safes whose owners can’t be identified from external markings.
Source: Guardian.co.uk
