More than a dozen additional victims were exhumed, according to Kenya’s interior minister, amid allegations that the alleged cult leader is refusing food and water.
The number of victims of a suspected starvation cult has risen to at least 89 following the discovery of additional corpses in a Kenyan forest.
Most of the dead were found in shallow single and mass graves, however others were emaciated and died.
Since the local Red Cross reported over 200 missing people, the death toll may rise.
Body bags have been removed from the Shakahola forest in eastern Kenya, where forensic teams have been investigating the 800-acre site where the Good News International Church was located.
Images depict mud huts with palm-thatch roofs dispersed among trees and vegetation.
Pastor Paul Mackenzie, the congregation’s pastor, is in detention for instructing people to starve to enter paradise.
According to Kenyan media, he has denied any wrongdoing and is refusing sustenance and water.
Mackenzie was arrested on April 14 when a site in Kilifi County was raided in response to an anonymous report. Fourteen additional members of the cult are also being detained.
Interior minister Kithure Kindiki stated that 16 additional corpses were exhumed on Tuesday, bringing the total to 89.
Three more individuals were rescued alive, bringing the total to 34, but when authorities arrived, some cult members fled.
The majority of those rescued could neither walk nor speak.
The interior minister stated, “We pray that God will help them get through the trauma, recover, and tell the story of how a fellow Kenyan, a fellow human, decided to hurt so many people heartlessly while hiding behind the Holy Scriptures.”
On Thursday, postmortem examinations of the bodies will commence.
The public prosecutions office in Kenya has stated that it is considering charges including homicide, radicalization, and endangering public safety.
