'Nazi gold train' could be first of many hidden in Hitler's vast tunnel complex in Poland

Experts in Poland have claimed that the apparent discovery of a German train thought to be packed with looted treasures could be the first of many, suggesting just a fraction of the vast tunnel complex built by occupying Germans in the country has so far been discovered.

Walbrzych in western Poland has been gripped by the decades-old mystery of missing Nazi gold trains since officials said on Friday they are '99 per cent certain' that a hidden train has been discovered by treasure hunters.

"The train is 100 metres long and is protected. The fact that it is armoured indicates it has a special cargo. We do not know what is inside the train. Probably military equipment but also possibly jewellery, works of art and archive documents," said Piotr Zuchowski, head of conservation at Poland's culture ministry.

It is thought that one of the men who helped to conceal the train disclosed its location on his deathbed.

Specialists at the Ksiaz castle, the nearby fortress which Hitler intended to become his base of operations in Eastern Europe, believe there are at least two further undiscovered Nazi trains in the area carrying unknown treasures.

"There is a story that in 1945 there were three trains which came into the town and have never been found," said Magdalena Woch, director of culture at the Ksiaz castle.

"The gold may not be in the train that has been found but in one of these better secured military trains. It is possible there are more trains in Walbrzych.

"There are discrepancies between maps of the area from the 1920s and the 1940s which suggests there are tunnels under the town which have never been found.

"Up to 1947 the Soviets were here and we do not know what they found."

The Ksiaz castle was being prepared for Hitler's arrival right up to the end of World War Two with a study and en suite lavatory installed for the dictator.

A comprehensive bunker complex based on the blueprint of the dictator's Berlin wartime base was also under construction when the fortress was overrun by Soviet troops in 1945.

Local politician Lukasz Kazek claims that just one third of the vast tunnel network built by the occupying Germans in Poland during the Second World War, dubbed the 'Riese' project - German for 'giant' - have been discovered.

His intervention raises the possibility that several more trains could yet be unearthed.

Mr Kazek, 37, who also works as a tour guide at the town's Wlodarz tunnels, part of the Riese network, said: "In this region there are a lot of treasures because when the Soviet army, the Germans had to flee but they thought they would be coming back.

"They were hiding to retrieve it - everything from money, to documents and gold jewellery."

Mr Kazek, along with his grandfather, devotes much of his time to locating abandoned Nazi treasures in the area.

"You need to look for a sign, anything from a crossroads to a big tree. When they were renovating a German guest house we found a package complete with cutlery and old documents. That was the first thing I found."

Authorities have convened a crisis committee in response to the huge public interest generated by Friday's announcement.

There are local reports that the army may have to be drafted in to guard the train's location once it has been made public.

There have even been claims that a specialist bomb disposal team will be brought to area to diffuse any explosives that are found although they are not yet thought to have deployed to the region.

Officials have warned the train could be booby trapped or carrying unstable wartime explosives.

The location remained unguarded yesterday with several local people visiting the track-side site unhindered.