Libya - alcohol kills over 50 in Tripoli
2013-03-11 21:32
Tripoli - More than 50 people have died in Libya
since Saturday after drinking cheap homemade alcohol and hundreds were
poisoned, the health ministry said on Monday, as the authorities in the
Muslim country vowed a crackdown on booze trafficking.
The
ministry said 38 people died in Tripoli hospitals while 13 others
perished on their way to neighbouring Tunisia, where their families were
hoping they could be treated.
At least 378 people were poisoned
after drinking the homemade brew known locally as Boukha that was
tainted with methanol, the ministry added, while urging Libyans to stop
consuming any form of alcohol.
A security official, asking to
remain anonymous, said the authorities were preparing to crackdown on
suppliers and traffickers of alcohol, whose sale and consumption is
prohibited in Libya, although it can be found on the black market.
Interior
ministry spokesperson Houssine al-Ameri told AFP that an investigation had
been launched to determine who was responsible for the killer booze.
A
health ministry source said at least two women were among the victims
but refused to give further details due to the "delicate" nature of the
issue and the sensitivities of the families of the victims in the
ultra-conservative country.
Tripoli medical centre's health chief
Youssef al-Wafi said on Sunday that "preliminary tests revealed the
symptoms of poisoning from the consumption of homemade alcohol
containing methanol".
Methanol
He said those thought to have consumed the toxic drink ranging in age from 19 to 50.
Methanol,
which is also used as fuel, is often mixed with homemade booze in small
quantities to strengthen its alcoholic content.
Its health risks
include blindness, kidney failure and seizures, and it can be fatal if
the methanol content is more concentrated.
With its porous
borders, Libya has seen a significant increase in drug and alcohol
trafficking since the now-slain dictator Muammar Gaddafi's regime was
ousted in 2011.
Much of Tripoli's booze supplies are smuggled in from neighbouring Tunisia, Malta or Algeria.
But
locally produced alcohol is much cheaper than foreign imports and is
therefore particularly popular among the poorer sections of society.
Boukha,
meaning water of life in the local dialect, is made from figs, dates
and other fruit, but is often stored in basic, unhygienic conditions.
It
fetches around 10 Libyan dinars ($8) per litre compared with
between 120-150 dinars ($95 to $120) for a bottle of whiskey.
The
Libyan security forces, as well as ex-rebel militia, regularly claim to
have busted illegal alcohol distilleries, often hidden on villas and
farms in the suburbs of Tripoli.
Libyan customs also frequently announce the seizure of large quantities of alcohol being smuggled into the country.
In December, more than 7 000 bottles of booze were found in a container in Tripoli port, surrounded by cartons of juice.
And
there are fears in the overwhelmingly Muslim nation, especially among
Libya's tiny Christian population, of a rise in hardline religious
thinking after the revolt against Gaddafii, in which radical Islamists
played a major part.
