Number of Cultists at Compound in Dispute

David Koresh may have had fewer followers with him than he had claimed during his cult’s 51-day standoff with federal agents, officials searching through what’s left of his incinerated compound said Wednesday.

Koresh said he had 94 followers in the compound. Nine people survived the April 19 inferno, leaving 86 people supposedly dead in the blaze. Investigators so far have found 53 victims.

“We’re nearing the end on discovering bodies. We expect to find some more, but no one that I’ve talked to thinks we’re going to reach (86),” said Mike Cox, spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Five bodies were removed Wednesday from a fortified ammunition storage room where nine other victims were found. Cox said five of the first 12 victims autopsied had been shot. Officials previously disclosed two such cases.