China cracks down on doomsday rumor cult (3)

The public security department of southwest China's Guizhou Province announced Wednesday that it had detained 141 "Almighty God" cult members by Tuesday.

Zhang Xue preached to her family members in order to "save them."

She told them that disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, pestilence, plane crashes and environmental degradation are the punishments the "Almighty God" metes out to human beings.

Only by converting to the "Almighty God" cult can they be saved, she said.

Her younger brother ignored her ideas, but her younger female cousin was scared and joined the sect.

Most of the cult's members are unemployed people in urban areas or low-income groups hit by illness or disaster. People in their 40s make up the majority, said Ma Qiang, head of the anti-cult reconnaissance team with the Qinghai provincial public security department.

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