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Whisky binge kills 13-year-old
13/02/2008 13:05 - (SA)
Thabisile Khoza
Kriel - A 13-year-old boy died after bingeing on whisky at a friend's house while bunking school on Friday.
One of his friends anonymously alerted the police on Tuesday that the boy had died in hospital.
"They had been drinking at a house near the school during school hours," said Kriel police spokesperson Constable Ivy Mathibela on Wednesday.
A neighbour later found the boy lying on the ground and vomiting near a shopping centre in Kriel.
The neighbour took the child to Witbank hospital where he died on Saturday morning.
Mathibela said a post-mortem would determine whether the boy died of alcohol poisoning.
"If it was poisoning, we will change the inquest docket to a murder investigation and arrest his friends," said Mathibela.
He said that when the boy's friends were questioned, they didn't say much, except that they pooled their money together to buy whisky because they were "thirsty".
"They were still in shock about what had happened," she said.
The boys are aged 12 to 14 and all live in Kriel and police are investigating how they were able to buy whisky, as they are under-aged.
- African Eye
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