Kenyan police now say that incidences of decomposing bodies being recovered from a river in the western part of the country have been going on for two years.
However police spokesman Bruno Shioso told the BBC that investigations had yet to reveal those responsible or the motive behind the killings.
There seems be some discrepancy over the numbers.
On Tuesday, activists went to the Yala Sub-County Hospital, about 40km (24 miles) north-west of the lakeside city of Kisumu, and said they counted 20 bodies recovered from River Yala which had been unclaimed.
As the hospital only keeps unclaimed bodies for 90 days, they must have been recovered over the last three months.
BBC journalists have since seen two more bodies in the river.
But in a statement on Wednesday, the National Police Service said it had cases of only 19 bodies being reported over a period of two years.
A diver who says he has been helping retrieve the corpses for the last six months believes there could be many more bodies in the river.
Families missing their loved ones have started reporting to the local police headquarters hoping to identify the bodies, some of which are badly decomposed.
The police say a special forensics team has been sent to Yala to speed up the identification of the victims.
Anxious Kenyans are demanding answers, amid allegations that most of the bodies recovered from the river had shown signs of torture.
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Concern over Covid-infected lions in South Africa
Lions and pumas at a South African zoo may have contracted Covid from their handlers, according to a study by scientists at the University of Pretoria.
The scientists warn of the risk of new variants emerging if the virus “establishes itself in other animal reservoirs” and is transmitted back to human beings.
The study was done after the animals fell ill with symptoms that were similar to coronavirus in human beings – including breathing difficulties, runny noses and a dry cough.
Covid tests on the animals turned out positive, the research noted, with data suggesting that they contracted the virus from staff handling them.
The authors noted that the zoo keepers had coronavirus circulating among them at the time but showed no symptoms.
They have recommended measures such as wearing masks and infection control when dealing with captive animals.
The research has been published in the peer-reviewed journal Viruses.
Source: BBC
