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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Matthew Dresch

Tourists on coronavirus lockdown lived in cave for month after running out of cash

Tourists lived in a cave in India for a month after running out of money during the coronavirus lockdown.

The six foreigners had saved up just enough cash to buy food and survived by cooking with firewood and collecting water from the Ganges.

The three men and three women were previously staying at a hotel in Muni Ki Reti, near the city of Rishikesh in Uttarakhand state, which was made famous by the Beatles.

The rock band visited the city, now known as the 'Yoga Capital of the World', for a Transcendental Meditation course with the Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1968.

The Beatles and their wives in Rishikesh with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (Getty Images)

The tourists staying in the cave in Rishikesh were found by police on Saturday after a tip off from locals, reports say.

Rakendra Singh Kataith, of Lakshman Jhula police station, told Hindustan Times : "The group includes three women and three men. Two of them hail from Ukraine and one each from Turkey, USA, France and Nepal.

"They were cooking their food using firewood. They brought the water from the Ganga flowing nearby.

John Lennon in the city during the transcendental meditation course (Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
The Beatles put the city on the map when they visited in 1968 (Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

"They were all brought to the police station where they said that they had shifted to the cave on March 24 after they ran out of money to pay hotel charges in Muni Ki Reti area of Rishikesh where they were staying."

It is believed the Nepalese member of the group bought them food and essential supplies while they were waiting out the crisis.

They all arrived in Rishikesh around two months ago and moved into the cave on March 24.

The tourists have been quarantined in Swarg Ashram, where they will remain for 14 days, Mail Online reports.

None of them have shown any symptoms of coronavirus.

India ordered the world's largest lockdown when it shut down the whole country last month.

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