Twenty-one bodies have been exhumed in Kenya from suspected Christian cult graves, as police investigate a preacher said to have told followers to starve to death.
Dead children were among those found and police anticipate finding even more bodies in the Shakahola forest outside the coastal town of Malindi.
On Saturday, officials reported seven deaths in connection with the inquiry after the arrest of Paul Mackenzie Nthenge.
He reportedly told followers to starve themselves in order to “meet Jesus” as part of the Kilifi cult.
“In total since yesterday, we have 21 bodies,” a police source told Agence France-Presse on condition of anonymity, after exhumations.
The source continued: “We have not even scratched the surface which gives a clear indication that we are likely to get more bodies by the end of this exercise."
Kenya’s NTV channel reported on Saturday that seven bodies had been removed from two of 32 suspected gravesites marked out by police.
Titus Katana, a former church member, helped police identify the graves.
“We have shown the graves to the police, and in addition, we have saved the life of a woman who only had a few hours left, otherwise she’d also be dead,” Katana told Citizen TV.
Eleven other followers of the church, seven men and four women aged 17 to 49, were taken to hospital, three of them in critical condition, Agence France Presse reports.
Last month police arrested and later released Mackenzie for encouraging the parents of two boys to starve and suffocate their children to death.
During a court appearance in that case, Mackenzie said he was unaware of the events that led to the deaths of the two boys, adding he was the target of hostile propaganda from some of his former colleagues, The Standard newspaper reported.
He was initially released on bail but then arrested again on April 15 after discovering more bodies. The case is due to be heard in court on May 2 with an initial hearing on Monday.
Mackenzie has staged a hunger strike within police cells, NTV reports that he has not eaten for the past four days since his arrest.
Local media reported that six of Mackenzie’s associates were also arrested.
