Kenya
7 new bodies have been found as exhumations continued in the Kenyan forest of Shakahola on Monday
As exhumations continued on Monday in a Kenyan forest where hundreds of victims of a doomsday cult were found buried last year, seven more bodies were discovered.
The total number of people unearthed from the mass graves now stands at 436.
The government paused the exhumations last year, to allow for DNA matching of the bodies. So far, only 34 of the victims have been identified.
The first bodies were discovered in April 2023 in the Shakahola forest near the Kenyan coast, leading to the arrest of pastor Paul Mackenzie who is alleged to have led his followers to starve themselves to death in order "to meet Jesus".
Mackenzie has pleaded not guilty to 191 counts of murder, manslaughter and terrorism. He has also been charged with child torture and cruelty.
The case shocked Kenya, a largely Christian nation, and brought attention to the lack of regulation of churches and cults.
11:14
Rwanda Walks Away: what’s behind the Central Africa rift? [Business Africa]
00:57
China's foreign minister meets with several African counterparts
02:20
In Brazil, knights and masked riders take to a football pitch for religious festival
01:37
Outrage in Kenya as autopsy reveals a blogger was strangled in police custody
01:21
Scorching heat challenges pilgrims at mount Arafat during sacred Hajj ritual
01:01
Egypt tells Greece sovereignty of Sinai monastery assured