Two dead, one blind after drinking illicit brew in Mutindwa
At least two people have died while two others are admitted in hospital after consuming poisonous alcohol at Mutindwa in Umoja I Ward, Nairobi County.
Embakasi West constituency liquor committee chairperson Charles Ayiro confirmed that the two individuals died after drinking at a wines and spirits outlet in Mutindwa area in Embakasi West constituency.
Mr Ayiro said that the two were admitted at Mama Lucy Hospital before one was transferred to Kenyatta National Hospital where he is currently being attended to. He said that one other person had gone blind.
He stated that one body, of the man who died on Thursday, was transferred to City Mortuary while he is not sure where the other body, of the one who died on Wednesday, is.
“The two are from Mtindwa area in Umoja. There is a guy who passed on the day before yesterday (Wednesday) and there is a guy who passed on yesterday (Thursday) and there are two in hospital. One is at Mama Lucy Hospital while the other was transferred to Kenyatta National Hospital. One of the bodies was taken to City Mortuary yesterday (Thursday) but the other one I have not seen it and also do not know where it is. The one I saw was the one who passed on Thursday and I even have the photo,” said Mr Ayiro on Friday.
Mr Ayiro said that they unearthed the whole story when they conducted an operation in the area to contain counterfeit liquor in the area arresting two owners of wines and spirits and a manufacturer of the counterfeit alcohol, named Furaha, which is alleged to have killed the two people with another one losing his eyesight.
“We managed to arrest seven people during the swoop. One was manufacturing the alcohol said to have killed the two in his house. There were also some four wines and spirits owners but two managed to escape. The outlet owners and the manufacturer are currently being charged at Makadara Law Courts,” he said.
Mama Lucy Hospital medical superintendent Dr Musa Mohamed confirmed that they have a patient at the hospital who is in a critical condition but they are attending to him.
“We have a patient whom we are treating over the alcohol case and his condition is bad. We have not seen any other more cases here but maybe they are in other hospitals but here we only have one who is under observation,” said Dr Mohamed.
The area MP George Theuri, however, claimed that the death toll might be even more saying that two other deaths have been reported in Kayole.
“The first one died on Wednesday while three died on Thursday. One has lost his eyesight and as we are speaking two are in critical condition at Mama Lucy Hospital. We received reports that all these happened after they consumed this alcohol,” said the Embakasi West lawmaker.
This was corroborated by the area ward representative Mark Mugambi Macharia who also said that the deaths could be more.
“There is one who took the alcohol on Wednesday night and died the following morning. The other one died yesterday in the afternoon while there are some who have lost their eyesight. Two are dead from Umoja and we also heard that there were other two deaths from Kayole,” said MCA Macharia on Friday.