Over 300 individuals have passed away after a Kenyan pastor instructed his followers to starve to death so they may meet Jesus.
Authorities issued a warning on Tuesday, stating that future planned exhumations will likely result in an increase in the death toll.
After 19 more dead were found in mass graves in the wide forested area of Kilifi County, coastal Kenya, where pastor Paul Mackenzie and his followers lived, the death toll rose to 303.
613 persons connected to the area, according to coastal regional commissioner Rhoda Onyancha, are missing.
After staging a hunger strike to protest being confined at a shelter, 65 of the 95 parishioners who officials claim they were able to rescue from the property were charged with attempting suicide on Monday. A jail was used to house them.
After receiving a report that some people were starving to death after their pastor told them it was a way to meet Jesus, police were called to MacKenzie’s farm in April. Before being transported to the refuge, the malnourished followers received medical attention at a hospital in Malindi. William Ruto, the president of Kenya, compared Mackenzie to a terrorist.
Mackenzie is anticipated to return to court this week after police were given further time to detain him pending enquiries.
The pastor had been accused of being involved in the disappearance of children prior to his arrest in April, but he had been freed on bond. William Ruto, the president of Kenya, compared Mackenzie to a terrorist.
More mass graves, according to Interior Minister Kindiki Kithure, are planned for exhumation. He speculated that the pastor might be accused of crimes relating to terrorism or genocide.
