At least 33 bodies – including children and dismembered remains stuffed in bags – were exhumed from a mass grave in western Kenya on Thursday, raising questions about whether the bodies had been secretly moved from a hospital mortuary.
Detectives have exhumed the remains of 25 children and eight adults, as well as dismembered body parts packed in gunny bags, from a mass grave at a church-owned cemetery in Kericho, authorities said.
“We were able to determine that these were bodies transferred from Nyamira District Hospital to a private cemetery in Kericho,” Mohamed Amin, head of the Criminal Investigations Directorate, told reporters.
He said investigators are trying to determine whether the bodies were legally disposed of after being removed from a morgue.
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At least 33 bodies – 25 of which were 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 mortuaries to remove unclaimed bodies after fourteen days with court approval.
Government pathologists conducted autopsies on Thursday to determine the cause of death, although the identities of the victims have not been released.
Authorities have arrested two people in connection with the case.
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Authorities have arrested two people in connection with the case. (Andrew Kasuku/AP Photo)
Local media reported that the bodies were transported in a government vehicle by unknown persons and hastily buried, with some gravediggers later alerting police.
“We need the authorities to conduct a thorough investigation,” said resident Brian Kibunja.
Another resident, Samuel Moso, said authorities “must reveal whether the government was involved or whether some other group of people was behind the mass burial.”
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Three major mass grave incidents have occurred in Kenya in the past three years. (Andrew Kasuku/AP Photo)
Three major mass grave incidents have occurred in Kenya in the past three years.
Police uncovered hundreds of bodies buried in a forest in Kenya’s coastal Kilifi region in 2023, unearthing mass graves linked to a religious leader accused of starving his followers.
In 2024, authorities recovered nine bodies from a landfill in Nairobi, the capital of the East African country.
The latest discovery comes as concerns grow among some Kenyans over alleged abuse by police.
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Missing Voices, a human rights group, said it documented 125 extrajudicial killings and six enforced disappearances in Kenya last year, compared to 104 reported killings the year before.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
