Kenya's police exhume 17 more bodies linked to starvation cult

Emergency workers exhuming shallow graves in Shakahola

Emergency workers exhuming shallow graves in Shakahola in Kilifi County, Kenya on April 25, 2023. PHOTO | WACHIRA MWANGI | NMG

The death toll from a suspected Kenyan starvation cult climbed to 90 on Tuesday, including many children, as police said investigators were pausing the search for bodies because the morgues were 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.