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Treasure Hunters Barred From 'Nazi Train' Site

Treasure hunters are being stopped from getting near the site of an alleged Nazi gold train because of concerns for their safety.

Scores of people have descended on a wooded area near a railway track in Walbrzych, Poland, where the train is believed to have vanished in 1945.

Fortune seekers have been combing the area with metal detectors in the hope of finding gold, gems and weapons.

But police and railway worker patrols have been stepped up to prevent accidents, as trains still run on the tracks.

One man taking a selfie reportedly narrowly missed being hit.

Provincial governor Tomasz Smolarz said: "A few hectares (acres) of land are now being secured. People have been barred from the woods."

"Half of Walbrzych's residents and other people are going treasure hunting or just for walks to see the site," said police spokeswoman Magdalena Koroscik.

"We are worried for their security. People walking down the tracks can't escape a train that emerges from behind the rocks at 70 km/h (43 mph)," she said.

Mr Smolarz is also asking the military to examine the site with earth-penetrating equipment to finally get to the bottom of the mystery.

Enthusiasts have been looking for the train for decades and in the communist era the Polish army even carried out several fruitless searches.

But this month two men, a Pole and German, revived hopes when they told authorities they had found the train.

They said they would reveal its location if they got a 10% share of the value of the haul.

The train could potentially be booby-trapped , according to Poland's Deputy Culture Minister Piotr Zuchowski.

Mr Zuchowski said he is convinced the train exists.

But local authorities said previous reports of a find had only ever yielded rusty pieces of metal.

Local folklore has it that the armoured train entered a tunnel near a cliff-top mediaeval castle near the southwestern city of Walbrzych as the Red Army approached in 1945, and never came out.

The tunnel was later closed and its location forgotten.