Three men, including a dad and son, have died after digging a five-metre-deep cave to hunt for treasure.
Tevfik Özdemir, Okan Özdemir, and İbrahim Ergün went to the secluded site after nightfall last Wednesday (17 Apr).
It was illegal to excavate there, it is understood.
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Their relatives became worried when they failed to return home and cops were called.
The police began a search and rescue operation to track the missing men down.
They went to the cave because the men had previously been suspected of carrying out illegal excavations.
Search and rescue workers found a motionless body at the cave entrance in Gürmüzlü near İznik, Turkey.
Emergency medics were dispatched to the scene, but they could only confirm that 68-year-old Tevfik was dead.
Sniffer dogs led the rescuers to the bodies of his son Okan, 42, and İbrahim, 38, inside the tunnel the men had cut into the rock on Thursday (18 Apr).
Firefighters were also called in to help retrieve the bodies, which were sent for post-mortem examinations in nearby Bursa.
It’s believed the men were poisoned by carbon dioxide gas leaking from a generator.
Tevfik and Okan, who worked as a kebab shop courier, were buried in Gölcük.
İbrahim was laid to rest in İznik, as reported on Need to Know.
The police are investigating.
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