Forensic investigators in Kilifi County's Kwa Binzaro village have exhumed five bodies from suspected mass graves on Thursday.

The discovery comes on the first day of a renewed exercise to exhume more bodies suspected to have been buried in a series of graves.

Government Pathologist Richard Njoroge confirmed the number and cautioned that the operation, already yielding “five bodies out of six exhumed graves,” was just the beginning.

Njoroge said investigators found scattered remains of body parts on the surface in the area.

“We had 27 suspected graves at the commencement, so today we managed to exhume six. Out of the six, we found five bodies, and also around that area we found 10 different body parts scattered in different places on the surface,” said Njoroge, noting that 21 more graves remained to be excavated.

Authorities appealed to relatives with missing loved ones to visit the Red Cross desk at the Malindi District Hospital, where personal details and DNA will be collected for possible identification in the new suspected cases.

The exhumations mirror patterns in 2023 when more than 400 bodies were uncovered in the Shakahola Forest, linked to the Good News International Church, led by Pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie.

Investigators determined that scores of followers, many of them children, had died of starvation, suffocation, strangulation and blunt-force injuries after being told their fasting deaths would bring them closer to heaven.

Dr Njoroge added that the exhumations will continue in the coming days as 21 suspected graves remain.

“We expect to also find more graves because we have not exhausted the search. The area is vast, so we expect more bodies,” he said.