Death toll from Kenya starvation cult rises to 90, including many children

By AFP 25 April 2023, 7:36 pm

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Body bags with victims of a Christian cult are seen during the exhumation from a forest at Shakahola outskirts of Malindi town, Kenyan Coast, April 25, 2023. (AP Photo)

The death toll from a suspected Kenyan starvation cult climbs to 90, including many children, as police say investigators were pausing the search for bodies because the morgues are full.

The discovery of mass graves in Shakahola forest near the coastal town of Malindi has shocked Kenyans, with cult leader Paul Mackenzie Nthenge accused of driving his followers to death by preaching that starvation was the only path to God.

There are fears more corpses could be found as search teams unearthed 17 bodies today, with investigators saying children made up the majority of victims of what has been dubbed the “Shakahola Forest Massacre.”

Kenya’s government has vowed to crack down on fringe religious outfits in the largely Christian country.