A woman has thrown out a mattress, not knowing that there was $1 million stuffed inside it.
She had bought her elderly mother a new mattress as a surprise gift on Monday and disposed of the old one, unaware she had hidden her life savings inside.
The woman frantically went in search of it, only to find refuse collectors had already taken it away. Landfill sites all over Tel Aviv were then searched, but to no avail.
Yitzhak Borba, a manager at one dump, told Israel’s Army Radio station that his staff were doing all they could to help the woman, saying she appeared totally desperate. He said the mattress was hard to find among the 2,500 tons of rubbish arriving every day.
He said he had added more security guards at the site to keep would-be treasure hunters at bay.
Amazingly, the woman, identified only as Anat, remained philosophical. "People have to take everything in proportion and thank God for the good and the bad," she said.