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A family who spent nine years living in a hidden basement in preparation for the end of the world have been discovered by police.
The six siblings, who are between the ages of 18 and 25, had been living with a man believed to be their father in a farmhouse basement in the Netherlands, People reports.
It’s reported that they’d had no contact with the outside world for almost a decade.
The shocking discovery was made on Sunday evening after one of the siblings escaped the basement and reported the situation to a local bar owner.
“You could see [the young man] had no idea where he was or what he was doing,” the bar owner, Chris Westerbeek, told local media.
“He said he’d run away and that he urgently needed help.”
The siblings and the man had been living off a secluded vegetable garden and farm animals, Huffington Post reports.
The older man was later arrested after he allegedly refused to cooperate with the investigation, CBS news reports.
In a press conference, the mayor of the Dutch province, said the 58-year-old was not related to the siblings and didn’t own the farmhouse.
He also added that their mother had died before the family moved into the house.
"I've never seen anything like it," he said.
“The family is in a safe place now.”
Sources: People, Huffington Post, CBS news
