The 21 juvenile fatalities at a bar in the South African city of East London last month have been linked to the poisonous chemical methanol.
All of their bodies contained methanol, and examinations are still being conducted to ascertain whether their exposure to the poisonous substance was sufficient to cause their deaths.
Dr. Litha Matiwane, the Eastern Cape Province’s deputy director for clinical services, said at a press conference in East London on Tuesday that although methanol had been found in all 21 of the people present, further investigation is still being done to determine its quantitative levels and whether it might have been the ultimate cause of death.
Authorities are still awaiting the definitive results from the tests, which are being done at a facility in Cape Town, he said.
A hazardous version of alcohol called methanol is employed in industry as a solvent, insecticide, and alternate fuel source. The manufacture of alcohol intended for human consumption does not use it.
It is still unknown how the children consumed methanol.
Although traces of these substances were found in the corpses of all 21 fatalities, alcohol poisoning and carbon monoxide inhalation have both been ruled out as potential reasons for death, according to Matiwane.
The early morning hours of June 26 were shocked by the deaths of the teens at the Enyobeni tavern in East London’s Scenery Park suburb, which prompted many police and liquor licensing investigations.
While some of the teenagers died after being brought to neighboring medical facilities, many were discovered dead inside the bar, their bodies spread out across tables and couches.
According to national police minister Bheki Cele, South Africa’s police would base their decision regarding who will be prosecuted for the 21 deaths on the results of the toxicology analysis.
The proprietor of the Enyobeni Tavern and a few staff members were detained and are now out on bail after being accused of breaking the law on the sale of alcohol to minors.
