Mozambique starts probe into intoxication case

Mozambican Attorney-General Beatriz Buchili said that she has opened an investigation into the mass poisoning on Saturday which resulted in the deaths of more than 70 people in Chitima town, local media reported Tuesday.

Up to Monday night, 72 people lost their lives in the tragedy, caused by a traditional beer, known locally as "Pombe", the Maputo daily paper Noticias said.

Pombe is made of either maize, sorghun, bran and sugar.

According to the paper, 35 other people have been admitted into Chitima health unit, and in the nearby Songo Rural Hospital. Radio Mozambique reported that seven of the patients who have been contaminated with the drink are in a serious condition.

Claims have been made that something else was added to the drink which caused the poisoning. Noticias quoted Buchili as saying that her office's investigation is being coordinated with the Criminal Investigation Police (PIC) and with the health authorities, which are in charge of the autopsies.

Samples from bodies and the drink are being tested in Maputo Central Hospital to determine the causes of the deaths, according to director of health in Songo, Paula Bernardo.

Buchili also told the paper that the prosecutors are awaiting the autopsy reports which should ascertain the nature of the substance which caused the poisoning.

"After proving that there is a criminal act, we shall hold its authors responsible", she said. The person who brewed the phombe, Olivia Olocane, is among the dead, and this cannot help with the investigation, since she was one of the first to die from the poisoning.

Chief of police operations in Chitima, Zeferino Sande, says that efforts are being made to trace the culprits. He said on Monday night that "We have reinforcements to carry out the work."

Olocane's baby and a niece also died in the incident. Her brother Emilio Olocane told reporters that 6 neighbors of the same family are among those who perished in the intoxication case.

Health Minister Alexandre Manguele met with the families of the victims on Monday to comfort them. He told them that the work under way to save the lives of those still hospitalized.

He assured journalists that samples of the drink have been sent to Maputo for laboratory analysis. "We shall let the doctors work without pressure so that they can bring us conclusive results", he was quoted by the paper as saying.

"Our great challenge is to prevent any more deaths. We have ensured that all the conditions now exist in Chitima to save the life of those who are still in hospital," he told Noticias.

A delegation from the ruling Frelimo party led by Margarida Talapa, on behalf of president elect, Filipe Nyusi, is in Chitima since Monday to express its solidarity to the families of the dead.

The leader of the main opposition, the former rebel movement Renamo, Afonso Dhlakama, is also in Chitima, where he met the relatives of the victims.

"I am here to express my solidarity to the families of the victims. The victims left children, wives or husbands and other relatives. My sorrow for the families," he said. He expressed his positive impression he has as how the doctors are working hard to treat the inpatients at the Chitima health unit.

"I am very impressed with what the doctors are doing.They are working hard in dealing with the situation at a hospital, mybe with scarcy resources," he added. Endi