Hundreds of victims feared by Kenyan “hunger cult”.

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About four weeks after the first indications of a “hunger cult” in the Kenyan coastal region of Malindi, 112 bodies have been recovered and autopsies performed. Many children are among the dead.

Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki, who visited the work of police, doctors and rescue services on Tuesday, believes that significantly more graves will be found in the Shakahola forest area. Twenty mass graves are currently being opened, he said.

Authorities in Malindi received a tip in mid-April that followers of a local pastor were dying of starvation in the wooded area hoping to “meet Jesus”. The next day, police found 15 starving people in a remote forest settlement, 6 of whom were in critical condition. Four of them died during the rescue efforts, according to police. Later, the police combed the wooded area in search of mass graves.

Curfew

So far, 25 suspects have been arrested, Kindiki said. Among those arrested is the alleged cult leader, the pastor of a free church. So far, according to Kindiki, 65 members of the sect have been rescued alive, two of them rescued on Tuesday.

Police officers continue to comb the more than three square kilometers of forest area that has been declared a safety zone. There is also a curfew in the area. The investigation and search for other graves would likely take a long time, Kindiki said. The cordoning off of the area should also protect the dignity of the victims and their next of kin. (SDA)

Source: Blick