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Penza, Russia

Cult holdouts are out of their hole: The last nine members of a doomsday cult that had been hiding in a cave awaiting the end of the world emerged this week after six months. Back in November, 35 men and women retreated into the hideout and threatened to blow themselves up if authorities attempted to remove them. Most abandoned their vigil in March and April, but the last holdouts didn’t give up until two of them died. “We could smell the stench through the ventilation holes,” said a local official. “As we pulled out the dead bodies, we suggested the others leave. They agreed.” The leader of the cult, known as Father Pyotr, was hospitalized last month after beating himself over the head with a wooden stick in an apparent suicide attempt.

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