Methanol Detected: Investigators have found traces of the toxic chemical methanol in the bodies of 21 teenagers who died in a nightclub in South Africa last month.
The tragedy at the Enyobeni tavern in the poor Scenery Park township in the coastal city of East London on 26 June caused shock and grief in a nation used to seeing casualties from a widespread culture of heavy drinking.
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The announcement on Tuesday that methanol had been discovered came amid rising anger at the failure of authorities to pinpoint the cause of death.
“Methanol has been detected in all the 21 individuals that were there, however there is still progressive analysis of the quantitative levels of methanol and whether it could have been the final cause of death,” Dr Litha Matiwane, the Eastern Cape provincial deputy director for clinical service, said at press conference in East London.
Methanol is a toxic form of alcohol that is used industrially as a solvent, pesticide or an alternative source of fuel. It is not used in the production of alcohol sold for human consumption.
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“The first way it gets into the body is to ingest it. But it is a byproduct from other chemicals, so it could have been something else. Hence we say we are investigating,” Matiwane said.
Alcohol poisoning and inhalation of carbon monoxide have been ruled out as possible causes of death although traces of both were detected in the bodies of all 21 victims.
Many of the teenagers were found dead in the tavern, their bodies strewn across tables and couches, while others died after they were rushed to nearby health facilities.
A regional newspaper, DispatchLive, said shortly after the tragedy that its reporters had seen bodies “lying bizarrely, as if they collapsed to the floor suddenly while dancing or in the middle of a conversation, some seemingly in the social circles they were engaging with,” and other bodies “slumped across chairs and lying over tables”.
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