A local beer made from millet and corn usually known as “Pombe” on Friday, January 10, 2015 killed about 69 people and left 196 hospitalised after they consumed it at a funeral ceremony without knowing it was contaminated with crocodile bile in the village of Chitima in the western part of Mozambique.
Among the first seven victims of the beer incident was the owner of the drink stand, her daughter, nephew, and four members of neighboring families.
Metro UK said the Police and health authorities in the area are currently investigating the source and spread of this deadly incident.
The district director of Health, Women and Social Action in Cahora Bassa, Paulo Bernando, expressed the shock they felt as people suffering diarrhoea and muscle pain trooped into the hospital in their numbers.
Bernando said, ‘People flocked to the hospital suffering from diarrhoea and muscle pain.
‘Then bodies from various neighbourhoods were brought to the hospital and this alerted us.’
The medical officials had sent samples of blood and the beer to a national analytical laboratory in Maputo for further medical screening.
