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Dutch police discover five siblings locked away for years on farm


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Dutch police discover five siblings locked away for years on farm

 

2019-10-15T155034Z_2_LYNXMPEF9E1BV_RTROPTP_4_NETHERLANDS-FAMILY.JPG

A general view of a remote farm where a family spent years locked away in a cellar, according to Dutch broadcasters' reports, in Ruinerwold, Netherlands October 15, 2019. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw

 

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Five siblings and a man believed to be their father were receiving medical treatment after Dutch police acting on a tip discovered them locked away in a secret room at an isolated farm, officials in the Netherlands said on Tuesday.

 

 

The five, estimated at 18 to 25 years of age, and a man they identified as their ailing father were found near Ruinerwold, a village in the northern province of Drenthe.

 

"We found six people living in a small space in the house which could be locked, not a cellar. It is unclear if they resided there voluntarily," local police said in a statement, adding that the people may have been hidden away on the property for nine years.

 

"They say they are a family, a father and five children," police added.

 

Officials did not confirm local TV reports that the family may have held "end of days" apocalyptic beliefs.

 

Earlier, local Mayor Roger de Groot said a 58-year-old man, not the father of the children, had been arrested. His role was unclear.

 

The Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad daily identified the man as "Joseph B.," an Austrian carpenter.

 

Five siblings and a man believed to be their father are receiving medical treatment after Dutch police acting on a tip discovered them locked away in a secret room at an isolated farm, officials in the Netherlands said on Tuesday. Local media reported that the family had been waiting for the end of time. Colette Luke has more.

 

Police confirmed they had arrested a man who was renting the farm but would not comment on his identity.

 

The children's mother had apparently died before they moved to the Dutch farm, the mayor said. None of the family members were registered as residents with the municipality, police said.

 

The family, who according to local news reports had been waiting for the end of time, was discovered after one of the siblings escaped and sought help at a nearby cafe.

 

An employee at the cafe told RTV Drenthe one of the family members, a 25-year-old man with long hair, had come in looking scruffy and bewildered and said he had not been outside for nine years.

 

"You could see he had no idea where he was or what he was doing," the cafe owner, Chris Westerbeek, told the broadcaster. "He said he had run away and that he urgently needed help."

 

The siblings had apparently lived in makeshift rooms inside the farm and survived partly on vegetables and animals from a secluded garden on the property, local TV RTV Drenthe reported.

 

"I understand there are a lot of questions," De Groot said. "We have many too. The police are investigating all possible scenarios."

 

(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg in Amsterdam; Writing by Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Catherine Evans and Matthew Lewis)

 

 

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-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-10-16
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1 hour ago, tifino said:

 one more old fella, to soon further clog the dutch prison system...

Dutch prison system is far from clogged, we're even renting out prison space to other countries.

 

I very much doubt this guy will end up in prison, a mental institution seems much more likely.

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