The death toll at a ranch in Kenya owned by a pastor suspected of operating a religious cult and ordering his members to starve themselves in order to "meet Jesus" has risen to 90, as the country's interior minister announced an expansion of the operation.

The revised total was obtained after authorities unearthed 17 additional bodies. The total number of people rescued while hungry on the ranch is now 34. According to the Kenya Red Cross Society, with the most recent statistic for the number of missing people being 213.

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Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, the pastor of the Good News International church, is accused of bringing his flock to the property outside Malindi. He allegedly instructed them to fast till death in order to meet Jesus, before burying them in shallow graves scattered over his property. He was detained earlier this month when police searched the residence, and remains in police custody pending a court appearance.

Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki stated that the security forces will "intensify search and rescue operations in order to save as many lives as possible." "The entire 800-acre (320-hectare) parcel of land that is part of the Shakahola ranch is hereby declared a disturbed area and an operation zone," Kindiki remarked during his visit.

The minister stated that this would be a watershed moment in how the country deals with challenges posed by religious extremism and that they were investigating another alleged cult in the same county.

According to Kindiki, “We have cast the net wider to another religious organization here in Kilifi. We have opened a formal inquiry on this religious group and we are getting crucial leads that perhaps [this] is the tip of the iceberg."

Teams investigating the site discovered decaying remains buried in mass graves as well as solo burials marked with a cross.

Some people living in mudwalled cottages inside the ranch have left ahead of rescue efforts, and those who could walk or communicate were the most to have been saved.