Dozens of Bodies Unearthed in Kenyan Mass Grave Discovery

(MENAFN) Authorities in Kenya have recovered at least 33 bodies, primarily children, from a mass grave at a church-owned burial site in the western town of Kericho, police confirmed on Thursday.

This finding represents the third significant mass grave incident reported in Kenya in recent years. In 2023, authorities exhumed hundreds of bodies in southeastern Kilifi County connected to the Shakahola starvation cult, where over 400 followers of imprisoned religious leader Paul Mackenzie reportedly perished after being instructed to starve themselves to “meet Jesus.”

Homicide investigators in the East African nation uncovered the remains of eight adults and 25 children, along with several dismembered body parts, following the discovery of the graves last Friday.

On Sunday, police said they were taking witness statements after securing the site to “preserve the integrity of potential evidence.”

Government pathologist Richard Njoroge told reporters on Thursday that, of the 25 children, autopsy results identified eight as male, ten as female, and the genders of the remaining children could not be determined. He added that some were neonates while others were fetuses.

“They were in various stages of decomposition. Only a few were fresh, the other ones were severely decomposed,” Njoroge said.

Mohamed Amin, head of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, explained that authorities are working to “establish whether these bodies were buried lawfully and how they arrived” at the cemetery.

Reports from local media and preliminary investigations suggest that at least 13 unclaimed bodies may have been transported from Nyamira District Hospital to the Makaburini cemetery.

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