NAIROBI, Kenya
The number of people who died after a Kenyan pastor ordered his followers to starve to death in order to meet Jesus has surpassed 300, authorities said Tuesday, and the death toll is expected to rise as more exhumations are planned.
The death toll increased to
303 after 19 more bodies were recovered from mass
graves in the vast forested land in Kilifi County of coastal Kenya,
where pastor
Paul Mackenzie and his followers lived.
Coastal regional commissioner
Rhoda Onyancha told local journalists that 613 people tied to the area are
missing.
On Monday, 65 of the 95
parishioners whom authorities said they rescued from the property were charged
with attempting suicide after they staged a hunger strike to protest being held
at a shelter. They were moved to a jail.
Police
went to MacKenzie’s property in April after investigators received a
tip that dozens of people were starving to death after their pastor told them
it was a way to meet Jesus. The emaciated followers were treated at a Malindi
hospital before they were taken to the shelter.
Mackenzie is expected back in
court this week after police were granted more time to hold him pending
investigations.
Before his arrest in April,
the pastor had been charged in connection with the disappearance of children
but was released on bond. Kenyan President William Ruto has likened Mackenzie
to a terrorist.
Interior Minister Kindiki
Kithure said more mass graves were earmarked for exhumation. He suggested the
pastor might be charged terrorism or genocide-related offenses. - Africa
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