Kenya starvation cult death toll rises to 201: Police

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - Search teams combing through Kenya’s Shakahola forest, where mass graves connected to a cult were found last month, exhumed 22 more bodies, bringing the death toll to more than 200, police have said.

"Our forensic team was able to exhume 22 bodies today," Rhodah Onyancha, the regional police chief, told reporters in Shakahola on Saturday.

At least 201 bodies have been found since mid-April during investigations into a cult run by Paul Mackenzie, a pastor who leads the Good News International Church.

The pastor is accused of ordering his followers to starve themselves to death.

Efforts to uncover the truth behind the cult's activities and the circumstances surrounding the deaths remain ongoing.

Police said more locals are registering their relatives as missing.

An investigation that started last month has revealed that some of the victims had their organs missing, which has led to suspicions of trafficking in human organs.