Nazi 'gold train': Treasure hunters warned of risks Published duration 27 August 2015

image copyright AP image caption The Nazis built a network of underground passages in the Walbrzych area

Polish authorities have warned treasure hunters to stop looking for a rumoured Nazi "gold train" as it could be mined or carrying "dangerous materials".

Such activities had increased in the south-western Walbrzych area after new reports of a train being found.

Earlier this month two men claimed they may have located a train thought to have gone missing in 1945.

It was rumoured to be carrying gold, gems and guns that disappeared in the Second World War.

The train is believed to have gone missing near what is now the Polish city of Wroclaw as Soviet forces approached.

In mid-August, a Pole and a German claimed to have found an armoured train. They said through lawyers that they wanted 10% of the value of anything that was found as a reward.

"I urge the public to stop searching for the train until official procedures to secure the find are completed," a senior official at the Polish culture ministry said.

"There may be hazardous substances dating from the Second World War in the hidden train," Piotr Zuchowski said in a statement on Thursday.

"There's a huge probability that the train is booby-trapped."

He added that he was certain that the train - the subject of decades of rumour and fruitless searching - existed.

Walbrzych's deputy mayor told reporters on Wednesday that train's location was being kept under wraps, likewise the identity of the two men.

"The find is within our administrative boundaries," said Zygmunt Nowaczyk.

"I cannot of course reveal the exact place."