Kenya cult deaths hit 90 as authorities expand operation

NAIROBI — The death toll at a ranch in coastal Kenya that is owned by a pastor who is accused of leading a cult and ordering his followers to starve themselves reached 90 on Tuesday, as the country's interior minister announced an expanded operation at the site.

The Kenya Red Cross Society's latest figure on the number of people missing is 213.

Paul Makenzi, who heads the so-called Good News International Church, is accused of luring his followers to the ranch near the town of Malindi. He allegedly told them to fast to death in order to meet Jesus before burying them in shallow graves spread across his land. He was arrested after police raided the property earlier this month, and he remains in police custody.

The teams digging at the site have been finding decomposed bodies buried in mass and single graves marked with a cross.

Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki told media that "perhaps what was being done by Makenzi is a tip of the iceberg".

Agencies via Xinhua