The search for bodies at a suspected cult site in Kwa Binzaro village, Kilifi County, has been suspended. This comes after the death toll climbed to 37, with five new bodies found on Friday.
Authorities stated that they have stopped the digging to focus on the next step of identifying the dead.
According to the authority, a team of experts will start performing post-mortems and DNA tests on the bodies and body parts that have been found.
On Friday, Coast Regional Commissioner Rhoda Onyancha announced that the multi-agency team had finished digging up all the graves they knew about since their first round of exhumations started on August 21.
“We started exhumations on August 21, and so far we have been able to exhume 32 bodies from Kwa Binzaro. During the search, the multi-agency team also recovered multiple body parts. We have now come to the end of exhumations in the identified areas, and we really appreciate the great job the team has done,” she said.
According to authorities, even though the digging has halted, the search for information goes on. Teams remain on the ground, searching for any graves that might have been overlooked. If they discover more, the exhumations will resume.
Onyancha said the next big step is to identify the people who died. She has asked people with missing relatives to go to Malindi Sub-County Hospital and give DNA samples, which will help match them to the bodies.
“We appeal to members of the public, even from previous incidents, if they have not come for DNA samples. A few have already come forward, but if your loved ones are missing, kindly come,” she urged.
Detectives are also investigating new clues where they found more mass graves near the village, sparking fears that the final number of dead could be even higher. Wild animals have disturbed these graves.
Near one of the new graves, a mobile SIM card plate was found in a hut. Investigators hope this will help them find the owner and learn more about what happened.
Onyancha thanked the local community for their help, stating that their information was key to the success of the operation. She also warned people to be careful of new cults, saying that police have recently stopped similar groups in Kilifi and Kwale counties.
"People are becoming so easily fooled. We will keep working to make sure these groups are stopped. Security teams will increase patrols and look for information in the region to prevent another tragedy," she said.
