Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena found the safe inside the country's main hospital building which had been built in 1904 under the British colonial rule.
Officials believe it had never been opened and no one paid attention to it until the minister inquired about it.
It has sparked speculation over the contents of the solidly built four door huge iron safe, which is two metres by 2.5 metres in size and had been fixed to a concrete wall of the old building. Only one padlock had been used to lock the safe.
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