Death toll at Kenya’s Shakahola forest rises to 350 after 12 bodies retrieved
Twelve more bodies were exhumed from Kenya’s Shakahola forest on Monday. The latest findings bring the number of people found dead at the site to 350.
Officials have been at the site since late April, investigating the deaths of hundreds of people believed to be members of a suspected doomsday cult led by Paul Mackenzie. Mackenzie is the pastor of the Good News International Church, based in Kenya’s Kilifi County.
According to investigators, the latest bodies were retrieved from five graves. One of the graves is believed to have contained the bodies of four members of the same family, two children and their parents.
The exhumation is currently in the fourth phase and according to authorities, the death toll is expected to rise as more graves have been identified.
Speaking in Meru County earlier today, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki noted the security experts had identified and mapped 40 more grave sites to be dug.
