DCI sends new team to probe 19 unclaimed bodies in Yala

A section of river Yala. The National Police Service has dispatched a forensics team to Yala as investigators work to identify more than 19 unclaimed bodies retrieved from the river.

The National Police Service has dispatched a forensics team to Yala as investigators work to identify more than 19 unclaimed bodies retrieved from the Yala River.

Police spokesperson Bruno Isohi Shioso, in a statement, said the team from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations headquarters in Nairobi were sent to the site and Yala Sub-County Hospital.

Mr Shioso claimed that no one had come forward to claim the bodies that are lying at the hospital.

Another group of investigators had been sent to Yala a few months ago.

Mr Shioso rejected claims in the media that the 19 bodies were retrieved from the river in the past two months, saying they were removed in the last two years.

"This number presents a cumulative body count over two years, contrary to media reports insinuating all the incidents were a recent occurrence," he said.

Unclaimed bodies are usually disposed of by the health facility after six months if no one claims them.