Death toll from Kenya doomsday cult reaches 201: Official
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On Saturday, an additional 22 bodies were found, bringing the death toll to 201 among the followers of a Kenyan cult who believed that they would ascend to heaven by fasting.
DCI forensic experts and homicide detectives sort exhumed bodies of Good News International Church cult followers. (Photo: Reuters)
A regional government official reported that 22 more bodies were found on Saturday in the Shakahola forest in Kenya, where searchers are looking for survivors and victims of a doomsday cult. The death toll now stands at 201, making it one of the worst tragedies in the country’s history.
Regional commissioner Rhodah Onyancha informed journalists that the forensic team was only able to exhume bodies and did not find any survivors. The search operation is still ongoing in the forest located in the southwest of Kenya.
According to Rhodah Onyancha, a regional commissioner, the total number of people detained over the deaths of the doomsday cult in Kenya has risen to 26 with the recent arrest of another suspect.
The search operation for survivors and victims has continued this week, with authorities excavating shallow graves in the forest and scouring the area for any survivors as hundreds of people are still reported missing.
Last Friday, 29 more bodies were discovered in the search for the victims of the doomsday cult in Kenya. Among them were the remains of 12 children, all found in one grave.
Earlier in the week, on Wednesday, the leader of the Good News International Church, Paul Mackenzie, was denied bail by a Kenyan court.
Mackenzie is accused of instructing his followers to starve themselves and their children to death in order to reach heaven before the end of the world.
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