Tete in Mozambique. At least 56 people including a toddler have died from apparent poisoning after consuming traditional beer known as "phombe", local authorities said Sunday. GOOGLE MAPS
MAPUTO,
At least 56
people including a toddler in the north-west of Mozambique have died
from apparent poisoning after consuming traditional beer known as
"phombe", local authorities said Sunday.
Carla Mosse,
director of health for the province of Tete, told Radio Mocambique that
39 people remained hospitalised Sunday after suffering the same type of
beer poisoning that caused the first deaths Saturday morning.
All
the victims — who included a two-year-old child — participated in a
funeral Friday during which they apparently drank the traditional beer
made from millet bran, the Mozambique paper A Verdade reported.
The
exact cause of the contamination remains unknown, but the woman who
brewed the "phombe" and several members of her family were among the
victims, Radio Mocambique reported.
"It's the first time we've faced such a tragedy," said Mosse.
She
added that samples of the poisoned beer, blood, urine and gastric
fluids have been taken and are being sent to the capital Maputo and
South Africa for analysis.
Mozambique's government declared three days of national mourning in a decree published Sunday evening.Source Daily Nation.
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