SAINT CASIMIR - Five people were found dead in a mysterious blaze at a house owned by a doomsday cult involved in a string of suicides and murders, Quebec police said yesterday.
The charred bodies of three women and two men were found on Saturday night inside the burning house owned by the Solar Temple sect in this Quebec village of 2,000 people.
Three dazed and shivering but unharmed teenagers emerged from a shed near the house, located in the village of Saint Casimir, about 60 km south west of Quebec City. Police said the house belonged to members of the Solar Temple.
In 1994 and 1995, 69 members of the cult died under suspicious circumstances in fires in Switzerland, Quebec and in the French Alps.
Police said the cult was known to place great importance on astronomical events, including the spring equinox, which occurred on Friday.