Photo: Getty Images
Siberia, we have a problem.
A plane carrying roughly $368 million in diamonds, platinum and gold lost its cargo during take-off, meaning that eastern Russia just got the shower of the century.
Considering it’s -5 degrees fahrenheit in snow-covered Yakutia right now, it may take a while for ‘authorities’ to recoup all the lost valuables.
It’s -21C in Yakutia, sunny, we expect showers of diamond, platinum and gold… Plane loses its $368 million cargo; gems and precious metals rain over Russia’s coldest region as police and secret services stage emergency search https://t.co/NsUeOWxZf5 pic.twitter.com/8OXd6Al9is
— The Siberian Times (@siberian_times) March 15, 2018
Yeah, police and secret service are supposedly losing their minds, doing an ’emergency search.’ Good luck, considering some of the precious metals were lost several miles from the initial take-off — ten tons worth overall!
The Nimbus Airlines AN-12 cargo plane hit problems during takeoff; the treasures fell out of the hold all over the runway.
The plane then dropped some bars of gold as far as 26 kilometres from the airport.
The crew decided to land at the nearby airport of Magan, some 26 kilometres north-west of Yakutsk.
Police sealed off the runway and a vast search is underway.
If there were ever a real-life National Treasure, this is it!
But just looking at the pictures from above, I have SO many questions.
Why are there men simply staring at all the gold, not doing anything?
What do the numbers on the bags mean?
Who owns all the gold and diamonds and where was it going?
If you owned all of this gold and diamonds, why would you fly it in a plane that looks like this?!
And why does the ‘airport’ look like a rest stop off the turnpike?
Here’s a view of the gold still left on the plane.
According to reports, the cargo was owned by Chukota Mining and Geological Co, which is 75 percent privately owned by Canadian Kinross Gold Co.
So what’s next?
Well, I’m assuming after Boris and Veronika get their hands on some free rent, someone is in some serious trouble. Tech engineers who prepped the plane for takeoff have already been ‘detained.’
Josh Helmuth is a contributor for Mandatory and a sports reporter in St. Louis. You can follow him here!
