Cult leader refuses to comment on mass suicide claims

Australian Broadcasting Corp./August 6, 1999

The leader of the religious cult, the Magnificat Meal Movement, has refused to comment on claims of a mass suicide at her group's headquarters at Helidon, west of Brisbane, next month.

Police are drafting a safety plan following concerns over reports claiming cult leader Deborah Geileskie believes she and her followers will die in a fire.

Police have confirmed they have warned all emergency services to be on alert on September 9. It follows media reports claiming Deborah Geileskie saw a vision in which she and her followers died in a fire on that date.

There is concern 50 families in Helidon involved in the movement and up to 30 people who live at the headquarters could die in the mass suicide.

Deborah Geileski would not comment in detail today but shrugged off the claims and invited the media to return on September 9.