The number of members of a Christian sect killed in southern Kenya after being persuaded to fast to meet Christ rose from 360 to 372 on Wednesday after 12 more bodies were found, police said.
According to Kenyan Police Inspector Rhoda Onyancha, the excavations – which resumed on Monday after weeks of interruption – are not yet complete and the death toll could continue to rise in the coming weeks.
Kenyan authorities continue to open mass graves and graves found in the Shakahola forest in the coastal county of Kilifi.
Almost all the bodies from the so-called “Shakahola massacre” were exhumed from the forest, which covers more than 320 hectares, while only a few died in hospital after being rescued due to their serious condition.
Rhoda Onyancha, quoted by the Kenyan press, confirmed on Tuesday that the number of people rescued alive remains at 95, while so far 613 people have been reported missing.
On June 27, the government’s chief pathologist, Johansen Oduor, said that of the 338 bodies examined to date, 117 were children and 201 adults, while 20 were too decomposed to be able to determine their age.
The autopsies also revealed that although all the bodies showed signs of starvation, some of them, especially the children, also showed signs of strangulation and suffocation.
The first police investigations suggest that the faithful were forced to continue fasting, even if they wanted to abandon it.
To date, at least 37 suspects have been detained in connection with the case, which has shocked the country.
Kenyan Home Minister Kithure Kindiki on Tuesday blamed the Kenyan security forces and judicial system for negligence for failing to take adequate action on past allegations against the alleged cult leader, Pastor Paul Mackenzie.
The main suspect, who has been in police custody since April 14, runs the Boa Nova International Church and has worked as a taxi driver.
Source: TSF
