Four followers of preacher Paul Mackenzie who were rescued from Shakahola Forest have been discharged from hospital and handed over to detectives.
The four were among seven including two women and five men who were rescued while in critical condition.
They were found fasting as was advised by Mackenzie and were hopeful of meeting their creator before they were saved from imminent death and taken to Malindi Subcounty Hospital.
The death toll from the Shakahola horror has reached 240 with more bodies expected to be exhumed from shallow graves in the forest.
Another 90 people have so far been rescued.
Malindi Subcounty Hospital administrator Said Ali said the remaining three were stable but still being monitored.
Ali said another survivor was also set for discharge but doctors asked that he be monitored for another two days owing to weather conditions.
“When they came in their condition was worse, they were very weak and emaciated, they could barely talk, but now they can communicate,” Ali told the Star on the phone.
During their initial days in hospitals, the survivors could barely talk for fives minutes. All they did was sleep, Ali said.
He said the hospital did now wish to expose the survivors to the media because some Mackenzie agents were following them.
He said one such survivor had escaped from the hospital after being assisted by the agents who had pretended to be relatives visiting their loved ones.
Ali said another survivor was due for dialysis and had accepted the process but later rejected the ‘devilish treatment’ after Mackenzie agents saw his images on social media and advised him against it.
“That patient died,” Ali said.
Among those recovering are suspected cult leaders given they are not free to talk when they are together.
“Surprisingly when you assist the same person to the washroom he opens up and even gives out a phone number of a relative to be called, we suspect there are leaders amongst them and they fear talking anything about their encounters in public,” Ali said.
One of the survivors he said came while completely dehydrated to the extent that even porridge would come out through the nose.
“Most of them have however picked up and are now eating solid foods. Our aim is to save as many people as we can.”
The second phase of the postmortem on bodies recovered from Shakahola is set to begin on Thursday.
In the first phase, the experts led by chief government pathologist Johansen Oduor managed conduct 112 autopsies.
So far, the total number of bodies at the morgue is 240 meaning there are another 128 autopsies to be done.