Collective cult massacres are still a possibility in Switzerland

A cult-linked massacre like that of the Order of the Solar Temple (OTS) 30 years ago could happen again in Switzerland, warns the director of the Inter-cantonal Center for Information on Beliefs (CIC). On the night of October 4 to 5, 1994, 25 members of the Order of the Solar Temple (OTS) were poisoned and burnt to death in Salvan in canton Valais, 23 suffocated or were riddled with bullets in Cheiry in canton Fribourg and five killed in Quebec. A family tragedy in Montreux in 2022 is proof that the same could happen again, according to Manéli Farahmand. On March 24, 2022, five members of the same family threw themselves off their balcony. Only the son survived. The criminal investigation concluded that it was a premeditated collective suicide. "Although on a smaller scale [...] we can make a link with the OTS case," explains Farahmand in an interview published in Le Matin Dimanche. + Get the most important Swiss news directly in your inbox "In both cases, survivalist convictions ...