The death toll linked to a Kenyan pastor accused of instructing his followers to starve themselves to death has exceeded 300.
The number is still expected to grow as additional exhumations are scheduled.
According to authorities, the victims were all members of the Good News International Church, led by Pastor Paul Mackenzie. Allegedly, Mackenzie directed his followers to engage in a prolonged period of fasting, which ultimately led to deaths by starvation.
The motive was purportedly the belief that by starving themselves and their children to death, they would ascend to heaven before the end of the world.
303 bodies have now been found, after the discovery of an additional 19 bodies from mass graves in the Shakahola forest, located in the southeastern region of Kenya.
Rhoda Onyancha, a regional official, stated that investigators expanded their search area in the region to locate potential victims.
More than 600 more people have been reported missing, according to reports.
Furthermore, approximately 65 followers who were rescued from the scene were charged with attempted suicide when they refused to eat during their stay at a rescue centre between Tuesday 6th June and Saturday 10th June 2023.
Paul Mackenzie, the accused pastor, turned himself in to the police in April. Last month, his request for bail was denied, and he has not yet entered a plea. He was initially arrested earlier this year on suspicion of the murder of two children through starvation and suffocation. However, he was subsequently released.
Relatives of the deceased followers claim that after his release, Mackenzie returned to the forest and moved forward his predicted date for the end of the world from August 2023 to Saturday 15th April 2023.
