The dream became a deadly obsession: Joao Pimenta da Silva, resident of Ipatinga, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, he dreamed that there was gold under his house. A spirit He had appeared to him at night to let him know. Convinced, Da Silva dug a well in the kitchen of his house, a well so deep that it was 40 meters deep. A pit that would end his life.
“Joao spent more than a year digging the well and hired several people to carry out the excavation. Initially, I paid 70 Brazilian reals (about 13 euros) per day when the hole was shallow, but, as the depth increased, the costs also increased,” a neighbor, Arnaldo Da Silva, told Brazilian media.
In recent days, Da Silva’s obsession had grown, to the point of offering 495 reais (92 euros) to anyone who agreed to enter the hole and remove dirt. Da Silva had come across a large rock that he could not move “and there were rumors that he was considering using dynamite.”
According to the G1 news site, “on one of the many times that the man looked into the hole to look for some sign of that precious metal, he lost his balance and fell.” The strong impact “caused his immediate death.”
Antônio Wilson Costa, a friend who was helping Pimenta da Silva, witnessed the fall. According to him, the victim’s seat came loose during the accident. “When he got to the top, the swing started to slide and he got stuck in the rope by his arm. I tried to hold him, but alone, there was no way to call for help.”