Kenyan police rescued 11 people, followers of a cult leader who were allegedly told to starve themselves in order to "meet Jesus," from a forest close to the town of Malindi on Kenya's Indian Ocean coast and taken to hospital on Friday, according to a police report seen by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The police have started a manhunt for suspect Makenzie Nthenge, a pastor of Good News International Church after the deaths of four ignorant citizens starving to death under the pretext of meeting Jesus after being brainwashed.

Media reports said Nthenge had been arrested and charged last month after two children were allegedly starved to death by their parents but was later freed on a bond of 100,000 Kenyan shillings (about $740).

The four dead worshippers have yet to be identified, while three among those taken to hospital including seven men and four women aged between 17 and 49, are in critical condition, according to the police report.

Investigators were continuing to search in the Shakahola forest after reports of a mass grave where other cult followers may have been buried. It is further suspected that there are many victims in the forest land believed to belong to the suspect.