(MENAFN) Kenyan officials have recovered at least five bodies from shallow graves in Kwa Binzaro village, Kilifi County, in connection with a suspected religious cult massacre. Among the remains were two children found in a single grave. The site is near where hundreds of followers of a doomsday cult were found dead in 2023, in what became known as the Shakahola cult massacre.

Government pathologist Richard Njoroge said investigators exhumed six graves and found ten body parts scattered nearby. Authorities are urging families of missing persons to provide DNA samples to aid identification.

Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) obtained a court order last month to exhume bodies suspected of being hidden in shallow graves around Kwa Binzaro. Preliminary investigations indicate that victims may have been starved or suffocated due to extreme religious practices promoted by the cult. Survivors reported missing children, raising concerns of foul play.

At least 11 suspects are under investigation for crimes including organized crime, radicalization, terrorism facilitation, and murder. In 2023, over 430 bodies were exhumed from mass graves in the nearby Shakahola forest, with autopsies revealing deaths primarily from starvation and, in some cases, physical abuse. The cult leader, Paul Mackenzie, faces charges including terrorism, murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, and child abuse.

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