Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has arrived in Malindi, Kilifi County, to oversee the commencement of post mortem on 110 bodies recovered from the Shakahola forest.
In a tweet, Head of Communications at the Interior Ministry Francis Gachuri said the autopsies will be conducted at the Malindi Sub-County Hospital Mortuary by a team of pathologists led by Government Chief Pathologist Dr. Johansen Oduor.
“This exercise will enable the state to gather more forensic evidence, key in building a watertight case against the perpetrators of the heinous atrocity and deliver justice to the families and friends of the victims,” he said.
The victims are suspected to have died from starvation.
So far, 110 bodies have been retrieved and 44 people rescued.
While giving a brief at the Shakahola Command Center, Coast Regional Commissioner Rhoda Onyancha says the operation is ongoing.
The exhumation was for the second day suspended following the rains that have hit the area.
Onyancha in addition notes that security has been beefed up within the area which is gazetted as a crime scene by the government.
According to the Coast Regional Commissioner, the multiagency team has launched real-time surveillance to help in tracing the followers of Mackenzie who are running away.