Six foreign tourists self-isolated in a cave near a northern Indian town after they ran out of money to pay for hotel rooms, according to police, and they were rationing their money for food and supplies.

 

They had been living in the cave since March 24, the police found them on Sunday and moved them to Swarg Ashram near Rishikesh. We have asked them to self-quarantine for two weeks as a precaution but the group seemed healthy, and she added that the four men and two women from France, Turkey, Ukraine, the United States, and Nepal.

 

India has been under lockdown to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus since late March. The country has reported 18,985 COVID-19 cases and 603 deaths from the virus.

 

Tourists have not been allowed to enter Uttarakhand since March 20, because of a state order issued as part of the lockdown. About 700 foreign tourists are still in Rishikesh, AFP reported.

 

Rishikesh has become a tourist hotspot thanks to The Beatles, who visited the area in 1968 to escape Beatlemania and delve into meditation and spirituality with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It now considers itself the "yoga capital of the world."