33 bodies including children found in Kenya mass grave, officials say
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At least 33 bodies, including children and dismembered corpses stuffed in sacks, were exhumed from a mass grave in western Kenya on Thursday, raising questions about whether the bodies were secretly moved to the hospital morgue.
Detectives recovered the remains of 25 children and eight adults, as well as body parts packed in sacks, from a mass grave at a church-owned cemetery in Kericho, authorities said.
“We were able to establish that these were bodies that were transferred from Nyamira District Hospital to a private cemetery in Kericho,” Mohamed Amin, head of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, told reporters.
He said detectives are trying to determine whether the bodies were legally disposed of after they were removed from the morgue.
INVESTIGATIONS CONTINUE AFTER THE FINDING OF HUNDREDS OF CREAMED HUMAN SLIMES OBTAINED FROM THE NEVADA DESERT
At least 33 bodies, including 25 children, were found in a mass grave in Kenya on Thursday. (Andrew Kasuku/AP Photo)
The Associated Press reported that Kenyan law allows hospitals and morgues to dispose of unclaimed bodies after 14 days with court permission.
Although the victims’ identities have not been released, government pathologists performed autopsies Thursday to determine the cause of death.
Authorities arrested two people in connection with the incident.
HUNDREDS OF DISCOMPOSED BODIES WERE FOUND IN NIGERIA’S SUSPICIOUS ORGAN HARVESTING RING
Authorities arrested two people in connection with the incident. (Andrew Kasuku/AP Photo)
According to local media reports, the bodies were carried into a government vehicle by unidentified people and buried hastily, some gravediggers later notified the police.
“We need the authorities to conduct a thorough investigation,” said local resident Brian Kibunja.
Another resident, Samuel Moso, said authorities should “explain whether the government was involved or whether a different group of people was behind the mass burial.”
THE MAN WHO WAS ALLEGEDLY FOUND WITH MORE THAN 100 HUMAN REMAINS IN HIS HOME IN PENNSYLVANIA: ‘HORROR MOVIE’
There have been three major mass grave incidents in Kenya in the last three years. (Andrew Kasuku/AP Photo)
There have been three major mass grave incidents in Kenya in the last three years.
In 2023, police uncovered hundreds of bodies buried in a forest in Kenya’s coastal Kilifi region, uncovering mass graves tied to a religious leader accused of starving his followers to death.
In 2024, authorities recovered nine bodies from a garbage dump in Nairobi, the capital of the East African country.
The latest discovery comes amid growing concern among some Kenyans over alleged police misconduct.
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Missing Voices, a human rights group, said it documented 125 extrajudicial killings and six cases of enforced disappearance in Kenya last year, compared with 104 murders reported the year before.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
