Kenya doomsday cult death toll climbs to 201 - official

4:04 pm on 14 May 2023

Workers dig the ground to exume bodies as Kenya's Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki visits the mass-grave site in Shakahola, outside the coastal town of Malindi, on April 25, 2023. Kenyan investigators unearthed another 16 bodies on Tuesday in a forest where a cult was believed to be practising mass starvation, bringing the number of victims so far to 89 including children. There are fears more corpses could be found in Shakahola forest where cult leader Paul Mackenzie Nthenge had allegedly been telling his followers that starvation was the only path to God. (Photo by Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP)

Workers dig the ground to exume bodies at the the mass-grave site in Shakahola, Kenya. Photo: Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP

Searchers for survivors and victims of a doomsday cult in Kenya's Shakahola forest discovered 22 more bodies on Saturday, according to a regional governmental official.

The discoveries bring the death toll of one of the country's worst tragedies to 201.

"Our forensic team was able to exhume 22 bodies today but we have not reported any rescue," Rhodah Onyancha, a regional commissioner, told journalists in the Shakahola forest in the country's southwest where the search is continuing.

She said one more suspect had also been arrested, bringing the total number of those detained over the deaths to 26.

Throughout this week authorities have been digging up shallow graves scattered through the forest looking for remains and scouring the area for any survivors as hundreds of people are still reported missing.

Family members and friends await news of loved ones in Shakahola forest, where 90 bodies have been exhumed so far at the morgue of Malindi Sub-County Hospital in Malindi on April 26, 2023. Weeping relatives on Wednesday awaited news of loved ones linked to a suspected starvation cult in Kenya as police resumed the search for victims after unearthing dozens of bodies since last week. The discovery of mass graves in Shakahola forest near the coastal town of Malindi has shocked Kenyans, with cult leader Paul Mackenzie Nthenge accused of driving his followers to death by preaching that starvation was the only path to God. (Photo by Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP)

Family members and friends await news of loved ones in Shakahola forest. Photo: AFP / Yasuyoshi Chiba

On Friday, 29 bodies were unearthed, including those of 12 children which were found in one grave.

On Wednesday, a Kenyan court denied bail to Paul Mackenzie, leader of the Good News International Church, who has been accused of ordering his followers to starve their children and themselves to death so they could go to heaven before the end of the world.

- Reuters