Austrian police baffled by tens of thousands of euros scattered in Danube

[December 08, 2015]  VIENNA (Reuters) - Mystified police in Austria are trying to find out how more than 100,000 euros ($108,230) in 100 and 500 euro notes came to be floating down an arm of the River Danube.

Investigations have so far found no criminal act in the area in which such a sum of money had been lost, a spokesman for the Vienna police said.

One young man who spotted the wet treasure on Saturday jumped into the river to retrieve it, Oesterreich newspaper said.

Bystanders thinking he was attempting to commit suicide alerted police, who arrived just as he was fishing out the money. He is now trying to claim a share.

"The boy said he wanted to bring it to the police, but the question is whether the police found it or the boy," the police spokesman said.

In Austria, anyone who finds cash and brings it to the police can claim between 5-10 percent of the sum and has the right to receive the whole amount if its rightful owner cannot be identified within a year.

($1 = 0.9240 euros)

(Reporting By Shadia Nasralla; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

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