Another 10 bodies were found yesterday Friday in Kenya’s Sakahola Forest, bringing to 336 the number of victims of the sect who fasted to death “to meet Jesus”, as self-proclaimed “Pastor” Paul Dhenge Mackenzie urged the faithful.

Following President Ruto’s lead, Home Affairs Minister Kithure Kidiki publicly “apologised” for the authorities’ inaction, acknowledging that greater vigilance could have prevented the tragedy. “I would like to apologize to Kenyans, as our president did. It is obvious that there has been laxity from both the previous and current governments, which has unfortunately led to the death of many citizens in Sakahola,” he said.

Two months after the grisly case that shocked Kenya was revealed, the search operation in the Sakahola forest has been temporarily suspended pending a post-mortem on bodies found in the past few days.

From what has been done so far, it appears that most of the victims died of starvation, apparently following the orders of the “pastor”. Some of the victims, including young children, were strangled or beaten to death. In some cases, organs were missing and authorities are investigating the possibility that an organ-trafficking ring was involved.

(With information from Daily Nation – Kenya)