Young man finds 100,000 euros in Danube

Under Austrian law, anyone finding cash can make an immediate claim for 5-10 per cent of the value.

But if the owner of the money cannot be found within a year, the finder receives the full amount.

The young man, whose name has not been revealed, jumped into the river when he saw the bank notes.

Bystanders were worried about his safety and alerted police, who arrived as he was fishing out the money, made up of 100 and 500 euro notes.

The young man is trying to make a claim, but a police spokesman said “the question is whether the police found it or the boy”.

The Austrian police are not aware of any criminal act in which this sum of money has been lost.