Police in Kenya discovered 21 more dead Tuesday on the compound of cult leader Paul Mackenzie, raising the total death toll to 133.
Hundreds of people who died as a result of the hunger cult in Malindi, Kilifi County, are thought to have been buried in the Shakahola forest.
Coast Regional Commissioner Rhoda Onyancha, who delivered the new death toll to the public on Tuesday, also reported that 566 individuals have gone missing in the area, with some church members believed to be buried there.
“We exhumed 21 bodies today from nine graves, and the process will continue tomorrow.” “The latest exhumations bring the total to 133,” she stated.
The exhumation had been interrupted due to inclement weather, but it was restarted after a few days.
A police investigation, which began in mid-April, has so far found that several of the victims’ organs were missing, raising suspicions of human organ trafficking.
Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki called the Shakahola cult deaths as a highly orchestrated crime, with far too many mass graves.