Kenyan investigators and authorities on Tuesday 25th April discovered ten (10) more bodies from the mass graves linked to a starvation cult (occultism group whom it followers starved themselves to death), bringing the total number of victims to 83 in total for now, a credible journalist source at the scene said, as fears grow of the toll spiking even further.
Police and army have spent days combing the Shakahola forest near the coastal town of Malindi after receiving a tip-off about a cult group led by Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, who urged his followers to starve themselves to death in order to find God.
The 10 bodies discovered on Tuesday 25th included three children and adults, as emergency workers dressed in white jumpsuits unearthed their remains from shallow graves and also found two haggard survivors, according to the news outlet journalists.
The gruesome discovery has sent shockwaves through the entire country (Kenya), prompting President William Ruto to pledge a major crackdown on “unacceptable” religious movements in and around the country.
As the fatalities mounted, authorities at the state-run Malindi Sub-County Hospital warned Tuesday that the morgue was running out of space to store the bodies and already operating well over capacity.
“The hospital mortuary has a capacity of 40 bodies,” said the hospital’s administrator Said Ali, adding that officials had reached out to the Kenya Red Cross for refrigerated containers.
It is believed that some followers of the Good News International Church could still be hiding in the bush around Shakahola and they are at risk of death if not quickly found.
Mr. Hussein Khalid, executive director of the rights group Haki Africa that tipped off the police, urged the authorities to send more rescuers to comb the 325-hectare (800-acre) area of woodland for more survivors.
“Each day that passes by there is very high possibility that more are dying,” he told news journalists.
“The horror that we have seen over the last four days is traumatizing. Nothing prepares you for shallow mass graves of children.”
Investigators told news journalist they found bodies squeezed into shallow pits with up to six people inside one grave while others were simply left outside on the ground. furthermore the Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome told reporters on Monday that 29 people had been rescued and taken to hospital for treatment.
The Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki to the government has announced plans to visit the tragic site on Tuesday, while President Ruto has vowed to take action against rogue pastors like Nthenge “who want to use religion to promote weird and unacceptable ideology”, comparing them to terrorists and cultists .
As the Kenyan authorities try to uncover the true scale of what is being dubbed the “Shakahola Forest Massacre”, questions have emerged about how the cult was able to operate undetected despite Nthenge attracting police attention six years ago.
The televangelist had been arrested in 2017 on charges of “radicalization” after urging families not to send their children to school, saying education was not recognized by the Bible.
Televangelist Nthenge was arrested again last month, according to local news media, after two children starved to death while in the custody of their parents.
He was released on bail of 100,000 Kenyan shillings ($700) before surrendering to police following the Shakahola raid.
The case is due to be heard on May 2.
The Kenya Red Cross said 212 people had been reported missing to its support staff in Malindi, out of which two were reunited with their families.
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