(Reuters) — At least 33 people in Kenya died on Monday night and Tuesday morning from drinking illegal liquor, medical officials said on Tuesday (May 06). Some 45 have been hospitalised and several have gone blind.
Those victims who made it to the hospitals alive were seen writhing in pain. The victims came from eastern and central counties of Embu, Kitui and Kiambu. In Kiambu County, where nine people died, police said they were still looking for more victims and some of them might not have made it home.
The spirits probably all originated from one batch, said a statement from the state-run National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse.
Embu medical superintendent, Gerald Nderitu said sample will have to be taken to determine what killed the victims.
“The patients are coming while in a coma, the department of public health has gone to the site to take some samples and also we will take some samples from the bodies that we will be doing some post-mortem on either today or tomorrow,” Nderitu said.
Drinking dens selling illicit homemade brews from jerry cans are common in the back streets of many towns and villages in Kenya. They prompted Mututho, a former lawmaker, to sponsor a landmark alcohol-control law in parliament in 2010, but the law seemed to prove ineffective.
