Bad beer kills at least 69 people in Mozambique

No fewer than 69 people died over the weekend in
Mozambique after drinking home-brewed beer, a
local government official reported on Monday.
Paula Bernardo, the district director for Health,
Women and Social Action, told the newsmen.
The mass poisoning occurred when people
attending a funeral on Friday in the village of
Chitima in central Mozambique fell ill, with seven
fatalities initially confirmed on Saturday.
“As we prepared to determine the cause of death of
people we began to receive a lot of people with
diarrhoea and other muscle aches.
“After that we began to receive dead bodies from
several neighbourhoods,’’ Bernardo said.
She said no fewer than 169 remained in hospital.
“Samples of the brew and suspicious objects found
inside the drum have been sent to the National
Laboratory in the capital Maputo for testing,’’ she
said.
Report says home brews concocted from corn,
sorghum or other crops are commonly consumed
in many parts of Africa and funerals on the
continent are often accompanied by drinking and
feasting.
However, the outgoing President, Armando
Guebuza, declared three days of national
mourning. (Reuters/NAN)