Children account for majority of Kenyan cult deaths

Children account for most of the 109 bodies so far recovered in mass graves linked to a cult in Kenya, the interior minister said.

Children account for most of the 109 bodies so far recovered in mass graves linked to a cult in Kenya, the interior minister said on Friday, the latest details in a case that has shocked the country and prompted calls for tighter regulation of religious fringe groups.

Followers of the Good News International Church near the coastal town of Malindi reportedly believed they would go to heaven if they starved themselves.

"The reports we are getting are that many of the recoveries are of children... Children are the majority, followed by women. Men are fewer," minister Kithure Kindiki told reporters.

"The preliminary reports we are getting is that some of the victims may not have died of starvation. There were other methods used, including hurting them, just by physical and preliminary observations," Kindiki said.

Kindiki, who called those behind the deaths terrorists, also announced the launch of an air search over the Shakahola forest, where the bodies were found and are being exhumed. He said autopsies on the recovered bodies would start on Monday.

The government would be announcing new measures governing churches next week, he said.

The leader of the Good News International Church, Paul Mackenzie, has been in police custody since April 14. Kenyan media say he is accused of persuading his followers to starve themselves to death.