Death Toll From Kenya Cult Tied to Pastor Surpasses 300, With More Exhumations Planned

Police and local residents load the bodies of victims of a religious cult into the back of a truck in the village of Shakahola, near Malindi in southern Kenya on April 23, 2023. AP Photo, File

NAIROBI, Kenya—The number of people who died after a Kenyan pastor ordered his followers to starve to death in order to meet Jesus has surpassed 300, authorities said Tuesday, and the death toll is expected to rise as more exhumations are planned.

The death toll increased to 303 after 19 more bodies were recovered from mass graves in the vast forested land in Kilifi County of coastal Kenya, where pastor Paul Mackenzie and his followers lived.