- This is a late posting.
Over 100 bodies have been recovered from mass graves in the Kenyan forest near the coast by authorities.
Hussein Khalid, the founder of the Mombasa-based human rights organization Haki Africa, led authorities to the grave sites last week after being tipped off by some locals.
He’s been excavating dozens of bodies for several days.
In a statement, Khalid said, “The stench is unbearable,” he told BBC.
The bodies found are thought to be associated with the Good News International Church. Khalid said that fourteen mass graves have been dug up from the “quite hidden” site, where people were persuaded to starve themselves to reach heaven before the end of the world.
Kenya is a deeply religious country, with Christians constituting 85% of the population.
According to police, 29 survivors have been found so far, but it appears that not all of them wanted to be rescued.
They were convinced that the world’s end was approaching and refused to be saved.
Mr. Khalid met a woman in her late twenties who appeared “extremely frail” and had sunken eyes.
Hassan Musa, Regional Manager for Kenya’s Red Cross, said in a statement that the survivors recovered from the site were “very weak and traumatized.”
“When we tried to administer first aid to give her sips of water with glucose with a spoon, she completely refused. She sealed her mouth shut and was signifying that she doesn’t want any help,” Mr. Khalid says, adding that the woman is now being treated in a hospital.
With 112 people reported missing, the Red Cross believes the final tally could be much higher. There could be up to 60 mass grave sites in the area, says Mr. Khalid
Victor Kaudo, who is assisting in the recovery of bodies from the Malindi Community Human Rights Center, predicts there will be 150 bodies to be recovered. Their organization was contacted by a whistleblower in search of their 3 children.
“It was quite unfortunate because we only rescued one, whom we found in a house, tied with a rope,” he said in a statement.
“And this kid we believe to be six years of age. But his sister and brother were already dead and had been buried the previous day before we arrived.”
“Jesus told me that the work he gave me had come to an end,” said Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, a Kenyan self-styled suspected cult leader, explaining his 2019 decision to close the Good News International Church.
Later, he led his followers to starve to death in order to “meet God.
Beyond the forest, people are surprised at how many people have willingly starved themselves.
Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki described the incident as a “massacre.”
Authorities have stated that autopsies will be performed to determine whether any organs are missing from the 109 bodies recovered.
