Four more bodies recovered in Kwabinzaro, Kilifi as exhumations continue

Four more bodies were exhumed from Kwabinzaro, Kilifi County.

This brought the total recovered since Thursday to nine, officials said.

The issue has been linked to occultism amid efforts to solve them. Most of the victims had traveled from far away to the area for the mission.

The second day of exhumations saw three graves dug up, containing four bodies, where victims were buried naked in shallow graves.

Government agencies have hinted at the possibility of more mass graves in the area since the homicide department has mapped out a total of 27 graves.

The exhumation, however, reveals that the graves are shallow, unlike the ones discovered in the nearby Shakahola Forest within the same Chakama ranch.

The manner in which the bodies were interred also differs from the Shakahola incident.

The exercise is expected to continue next week, with the graves already mapped out exhumed as the search for more graves continues simultaneously—an exercise made that much harder by the expansiveness of the area under review.

The areas where the graves were placed are also bushy.

Government pathologist Dr. Johansen Oduor said once the process of exhumation is complete, the process of identification of the bodies through DNA testing will commence, just like it happened in Shakahola.

The government is now asking relatives of missing persons to report and submit their DNA samples for possible matching.

Meanwhile, officials said the government says it is ready to release 37 bodies from the Shakahola massacre that were positively matched to their families for burial.

At the Shakahola site, more than 400 bodies were exhumed in an exercise that shocked many. The saga is lying in court where those linked to the same are facing various charges.