Kenya cult death toll now at more than 300 as more exhumations planned
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- The number of people who died after a Kenyan pastor ordered his followers to starve to death in order to meet Jesus is at more than 300, authorities said Tuesday, and the death toll is expected to rise as more exhumations are planned.
The death toll increased to 303 after 19 more bodies were exhumed from mass graves in the vast forested land in Kilifi County of coastal Kenya, where pastor Paul Mackenzie and his followers lived.
Coastal regional commissioner Rhoda Onyancha told local journalists that the number of those rescued stands at 95 while there are 613 people missing.
FILE - Police and local residents load the exhumed bodies of victims of a religious cult into the back of a truck in the village of Shakahola, near the coastal city of Malindi, in southern Kenya on April 23, 2023. The number of people who died after a Kenyan pastor ordered his followers to starve to death in order to meet Jesus is at more than 300, authorities said Tuesday June 13, 2023, and the death toll is expected to rise as more exhumations are planned. (AP Photo, File)
On Monday, 65 people among those rescued were charged with attempting suicide after they staged a hunger strike protesting against being held at a rescue center. They were moved to a jail.
Those who were rescued in April were emaciated and were treated at Malindi hospital before they were taken to the rescue center.
Mackenzie, the pastor whose followers were rescued, is expected back in court this week as police were granted more time to hold him pending investigations.
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The pastor had been charged previously in connection with the disappearance of children, but was released on bond. Kenyan President William Ruto has likened him to a terrorist.
Interior Minister Kindiki Kithure said more mass graves had been earmarked for exhumation and hinted at the pastor being charged with terrorism or genocide-related charges.