Authorities in Kenya have exhumed the bodies of over 400 people that are said to have died in connection with a doomsday cult.
Officials in the area told the Associated Press (AP) that they believe all of the victims to be followers of a doomsday cult in the coastal town of Malindi led by a local pastor, named Paul Mackenzie, who allegedly ordered them to fast to death in order to meet Jesus.
Mackenzie has denied the allegations, previously telling CNN in June he has “never seen anybody starving.” Per the BBC, it's said he also told the Kenyan Nation newspaper, "Is there a house maybe or an enclosure or a fence somewhere that has been found [at the farm] where people might have been locked in?"
New developments in the story, which first broke back in April of this year, came earlier this week when Coast Regional Commissioner Rhoda Onyancha told the outlet that an additional 12 bodies were exhumed on Monday, July 17, bringing the total number of those who have died in connection to the Good News International Church to 403.
Of the 403 bodies uncovered, pathologists said a majority were already in advanced states of decomposition, though, Onyancha noted that 253 of the bodies had undergone DNA matching.
Onyancha added that an additional 95 followers had been rescued, and detectives are still working to locate more mass graves as some 613 people have been reported missing to Kenya Red Cross officers in Malindi.
In May, relatives of those involved with the cult began speaking out, Stephen Mwiti, whose wife and six children joined the cult and are possibly among those who died, told Reuters: "He [Mackenzie] told them to starve themselves ahead of the world’s end on April 15, saying he would be that last one and that he would lock the doors."
