Ritual sacrifices have claimed the lives of 23 people in Uganda, mostly children and juveniles, since the beginning of the year, a police report said on Thursday.

Child sacrifice is on the rise in the East African nation, where witch doctors kill children and infants and use their body parts in rituals aimed at bringing wealth to those who seek it.

"The 23 who were confirmed dead were killed in circumstances related to child sacrifice," police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba told reporters.

The report said that there have been 954 cases of lost children this year. Of those, 800 were found alive.

Most of the children were simply lost or found at relatives' homes, but an unspecified number were rescued before being sacrificed.
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