If the end of the world does indeed happen on December 21, some of the people predicting it will meet it in a prison cell: Chinese authorities have arrested more than 500 members of a doomsday cult in a nationwide crackdown.

The underground group ‘Almighty God’ – which unofficial sources claim may have several hundred thousand members – held unsanctioned meetings for its followers, distributed warning leaflets and spread doomsday predictions through social media and text messages.

"Dec. 21 is approaching, and on that day half of the world's good people will die, and all evil people will die out — only if you join the Almighty God movement can you avoid death and be saved," reads a handout found in Shaoxing, in eastern China.

Violent clashes between police and dozens of Almighty God members in several provinces has been reported.

A man who stabbed 23 children in Henan province last Friday claimed he was motivated by rumors that the end of the world was coming, though it is not clear if he was exposed to the teachings of Almighty God, authorities said.

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