A woman in China was left devastated after a bag containing jewellery worth between 400,000 and 500,000 yuan (approximately RM235,000 to RM295,000) was mistakenly thrown away by a cleaner, prompting police officers to search through a massive rubbish pile for nearly two hours.
The incident happened on November 5 in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, when the woman, identified as Li, reported the missing valuables to Hongqiao Road Police Station under the Binhu Public Security Bureau.
At around 11am that day, a friend had left a bag containing Li’s belongings on the floor beside a shoe cabinet near the lift outside her home, intending for her to collect it later.
However, when Li went to retrieve the bag in the afternoon, it had disappeared.
The bag contained several valuable pieces of jewellery, including gold necklaces, pearl necklaces, a diamond pendant and jade rings.
After checking with the condominium management without success, Li contacted the police.
Investigations revealed that at around 1.07pm, a cleaner working in the building had mistaken the bag for rubbish while cleaning the corridor and disposed of it in the rubbish room on the basement level.
The rubbish room covered more than 100 square metres, with the search made even more difficult by the approaching evening period when residents typically disposed of their household waste.
Realising the urgency of the situation, police officers and auxiliary personnel immediately began searching through the rubbish.
Officers even climbed directly into the rubbish heap and searched through different sections. Property management staff, cleaners and additional officers from Liyuan Police Station later joined the operation.
After approximately two hours of searching, the missing jewellery box was finally recovered.
Li said the jewellery was not only financially valuable but also carried deep sentimental significance, as some of the pieces had belonged to her mother and were worn during her wedding.
“When I first realised they were missing, I felt as though the sky had fallen,” she said.
She even considered putting on a raincoat and gloves to search through the rubbish herself.
“I never expected the police to jump straight into the rubbish without worrying about getting dirty to help me find them. I was deeply moved,” she added.
