Toxic gin sold at roadside kiosk kills 17 people in Uganda
- Victims in Arua consumed a local gin named City 5 that contained methanol
- The deceased, all men between the ages 43 and 53 died at home or in hospital
- The woman who owns the bar was also among those hospitalised
At least 17 people have died and several others were taken to hospital after consuming toxic liquor from a roadside kiosk in northern Uganda, a senior official said Friday.
The victims in the city of Arua had consumed a local gin named City 5 that contained methanol – a poisonous form of alcohol sometimes used as an antifreeze – the head of the Uganda National Bureau of Standards said.
The deceased, all of them men between the ages of 43 and 53, died either at home or at hospitals.
At least 17 people have died and several others were taken to hospital after consuming toxic liquor from a roadside kiosk in northern Uganda
‘The sample picked by the Uganda Police Force from the kiosk where the products were being sold was found to have been adulterated with excessive levels of methanol’, David Livingstone Ebiru said.
‘It is likely the perpetrators deliberately and illegally used methanol as a cheaper alternative to increase the potency of the City 5 gin, instead of ethanol which is commonly used in making alcoholic beverages.’
Both the bar and the factory where the alcohol was made have been sealed, said Josephine Angucia, police spokesperson in the West Nile region.
She said the factory was not certified by the Uganda National Bureau of Standards.
‘We have taken four factory workers into custody and they are assisting us in the investigation,’ she told Anadolu Agency, adding that samples of the liquor have been sent for testing.
According to Angucia, the woman who owns the bar was also among those hospitalised.
The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has now suspended the certification process of products and production facilities of City 5 Gin.
According to a statement released by the UNBS Executive Director, David Livingstone Ebiru, the Bureau had certified Luluwiri Fruit Wine to produce semi-sweet still Table Pineapple Wine after undergoing conformity assessment.
He said that the same company tried to apply for certification of City 5 Pineapple Flavored Gin but it failed the laboratory analysis for having low alcohol content.
‘The same Luluwiri Fruit Wine had attempted to apply for certification of City 5 Pineapple Flavored Gin which failed Laboratory Analysis for having Low Alcohol content which is below 37.5% volume required of a Gin as per specifications of the standard,’ Mr. Ebiru said in a statement.
He added that the City 5 had not yet been certified by UNBS for conformity to the relevant standards and therefore should have not been in production and for sale to the public.
The Bureau together with Uganda Police inspected the Luluwiri Fruit Wine Factory and found forty unmarked drums containing Alcohol and Eight filled jerry cans containing alcohol. The samples were taken for further laboratory analysis.
Drinking remains widespread in Uganda, to the extent that it has become a source of social concern.
Many people die every year in Uganda after consuming toxic liquor made in backstreet distilleries, but the deaths usually go unreported.
In June 2017, 11 people died in the township of Nansana after consuming toxic gin.
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