Indonesia cultists killed amid doomsday no-show

Reuters, September 13, 1999

JAKARTA, Sept 13, 1999 (Reuters) - Three Indonesian cult members were beaten to death by fellow cultists when the 9/9/99 doomsday prediction failed to materialise, the Jakarta Post said on Monday.

Like many cults across the country, members were told to prepare for the end of the world at 9 a.m. on September 9. They sold their personal possessions and for nine days before the big day, locked themselves up in their homes.

When nothing happened, the cult members lost control, the newspaper said.

"The members were really mad," said Saadi Arsam, village chief of Sukmajaya, east Java.

Police are investigating.