A family who spent
nine years in a basement “waiting for the end of time” have been
discovered by police in the Netherlands after one of them turned up at a local
pub.
A man, 58, and six
adults – aged 18 to 25 – were living at a farm in the northern province of
Drenthe.
They were found after
one of the six ordered beer at a bar in the nearby village of Ruinerwold.
He then told staff he
needed help.
Bar owner Chris
Westerbeek described how one family member had come in, ordered five beers and
drunk them.
“Then I had a
chat with him and he revealed he had run away and needed help… then we called
the police,” he said.
“He said he had
brothers and sisters who lived at the farm. He said he was the oldest and
wanted to end the way they were living.”
Officers visited the
remote farmhouse and carried out a search. They discovered a hidden staircase
behind a cupboard in the living room that led down to a basement room where the
family were housed.
Ruinerwold is a
village with a population of less than 3,000. The farm is outside the village
and is accessible by a bridge over a canal.
The farm, which is
part-hidden behind a row of trees, also has a large vegetable plot and a goat.
Police in Drenthe
confirmed that a 58-year-old man had been arrested and was under investigation
after refusing to co-operate.
The farmhouse and the
surrounding grounds were cordoned off.
It was unclear how
long the family had been in the basement or what had happened to the children’s
mother, although the mayor said she had died some time ago.
Some reports suggested
the 58-year-old had suffered a stroke and had been confined to his bed.