Seven of the nine children whose bodies were excavated from the Shakahola jungle and later autopsied died of malnutrition.

Two additional children died from a lack of oxygen, according to Chief Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor, who addressed the media on Monday.

Pathologists were unable to identify what caused the death of an adult whose remains were part of the autopsies performed on Monday, according to Oduor, because the body had been in the grave for some time.

At the end of the search on Monday, no victim had been retrieved from the Shakahola forest, as the probe into a cult that has killed at least 109 people continued into a new week.


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Pastor Paul Mackenzie Nthenge of the Good News International Church is accused of instructing congregants to starve until death to "meet Jesus".

Detectives and pathologists are still excavating the Shakahola forest for other shallow graves and any remaining Nthenge followers.

Meanwhile, people from all over the country continue congregating in the area in search of information on loved ones suspected of being members of the deadly cult.

Following the operation, Chakama Ranch, which includes Shakahola Forest, has been cordoned off, and a 30-day dusk-to-dawn curfew has been imposed. Last week, authorities also barred journalists from entering the area.


Over ten cult members have since been arrested, as another controversial televangelist, Ezekiel Odero, is being investigated for his ties with Pastor Nthenge.

Mackenzie was apprehended last month after two infants died of starvation while under their parent's care, and she is still being held in police custody.