Police dig up 11 more bodies from Shakahola mass graves
Coast Regional Commissioner Rhoda Onyancha addressing the press at Shakahola Forest on May 10, 2023.
Police rescued two people in Shakahola forest yesterday during the ongoing search and rescue operation.
Another 11 bodies were dug up on the second day of the second phase of the exhumation exercise, bringing the death toll so far to 145.
The second phase of the Shakahola forest exhumations kicked off on Tuesday, with 21 bodies found. A total of 112 bodies have already undergone autopsies.
Police believe most of the bodies belong to followers of Pastor Paul Mackenzie’s church in Shakahola village, who is accused of ordering them to starve to death “to meet Jesus”.
While starvation appears to be the main cause of death, some of the victims — including children — were strangled, bludgeoned to death or suffocated, according to Chief Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor.
Addressing journalists at the Shakahola Command Centre yesterday, Coast Regional Coordinator Rhoda Onyancha said two men had been rescued, bringing the total number of people rescued so far to 70.
"So far, 579 families have been able to register their missing persons at the established rescue tables. Those rescued are among those admitted to hospitals and others receiving psychosocial support," Ms Onyancha said.
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She added that DNA samples have already been taken from 93 people as 14 families have been reunited with their loved ones.
"The exhumations are still ongoing and we cannot immediately say how many graves have been exhumed so far," Ms Onyancha added.
Investigations by Nation revealed that grave sites previously mapped out by homicide detectives are yet to be processed. This comes after another site suspected to be a mass grave was identified. Last month, detectives led by Homicide Unit chief Martin Nyuguto identified 32 grave sites.
Authorities discovered seven bodies on the first day of the exhumation exercise while digging up sites suspected to be clandestine graves.
There are fears that there may be more bodies than initially estimated by authorities if more than one body is found at each site, as was the case in April.
The first grave, less than a metre deep, contained the body of a child wrapped in a sheet.
The ongoing security operation is far from over, according to Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki, who described the Shakahola cult deaths as “a highly organised crime”.
