Death toll reaches 80, as police arrest 3 over killer brew

A blinded patient is strapped to his bed at the Makueni Hospital to prevent him from escaping. [PHOTOS: ONESMUS NZIOKA/STANDARD]

By CYRUS OMBATI

NAIROBI, KENYA: The death toll from the illicit liquor across multiple counties hit 80, as police arrested at least three suspects linked to the killer brew and struggled to establish its source.

Police believe the three suspects arrested in Limuru, Nairobi and Machakos respectively are Limuru, Nairobi and Machakos respectively are behind the manufacture and distribution of the drink nicknamed “Wings”.

The one arrested in Embakasi, Nairobi, allegedly distils “Wings” in his compound, but police raided the place and found nothing.

The killer brew has different names in the five counties of Embu, Makueni, Kitui, Murang’a and Kiambu, where death struck. And the tragedy spread to Naivasha, where one woman died after drinking illicit alcohol and another lost her eyesight, as tension rose at Mai Mahiu trading centre.

In Embu, where the death toll rose to 35, residents were cursing the merchants of “Kosovo”.

The Standard established that the illicit brew that has so far killed 29 people in Makueni and Kitui counties, and which is nicknamed “Countryman”, has been on sale for more than a year.

In Kitui, the toxic brew claimed three more, raising the death toll to nine. Kitui County Police Commander Cheruto Githinji said the latest deaths occurred at homes where the victims retired after consuming the illicit drink.

Wednesday, Embakasi OCPD Apolo Wanyonyi said they were questioning the proprietor of Wings to establish if he was behind the manufacture of the drink that has killed more than 10 people in Kiambu.

CRISIS MEETING

Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo held a crisis meeting with his deputies Grace Kaindi and Samuel Arachi, and the Director of Criminal Investigations Ndegwa Muhoro over the killer brew.

Officials from the National Agency for Campaign against Alcohol Drug Abuse (Nacada) also joined police in the hunt for the brewers and illegal stocks.

“We have taken samples to experts who will tell us the source and components used in its manufacture. It seems the brew was distributed to these areas from the same source but we are yet to identify the location,” Mr Kimaiyo said.

Other officials said there is likelihood that the lethal drink was brewed in Nairobi, probably in Kawangware and Embakasi where most brewers operate.

Government Chief Pathologist Johasen Oduor said he would go to Embu, the hardest hit, on Friday to join his colleagues in carrying out postmortems.

“Given the way the victims behave, it is clear the brewers used methanol to make it more potent, but we will be in Embu on Friday to confirm further,” said Dr Oduor.

The police and chiefs seemed to be clueless on the source of the brew but some locals in areas where the raids were carried out said the officials were feigning ignorance.

In Embakasi, police visited two places but did not find any sample to help in investigations. The first place was a warehouse where bottles from various breweries are washed and drinks repackaged using the containers.

But managers there said they do not brew alcohol and that their business is to prepare bottles for the Moonlight brand of Vodka.

The officers also visited the home of a businessman where locals claimed the “wings” drink is manufactured after his arrest.

“We did not find any sample to show the drink came from there but we are still interrogating him,” said Mr Wanyonyi.

MORE ADMITTED

By Wednesday afternoon, 20 people from Makueni had been confirmed dead, while 69 were admitted at the Makueni Level 4 hospital suffering from blurred eyesight, convulsions, and general body weakness.

In Embu, some of the 77 victims admitted at the Embu Provincial General Hospital complained of dryness of mouth, backache and headache, while some had lost their eyesight.

The situation was heartrending as relatives and family members broke down on learning of the deaths of their loved ones.

Susan Karimi, 26, a victim of the brew, remained distraught at the hospital awaiting for treatment as she tried to come to terms with the demise of her husband George Gachie, 31, who passed on Tuesday night.

“George was not put on drip when we arrived at the hospital on Monday night. He was put on drip only on Tuesday when he started foaming. I tried to give him some porridge, but the hospital security restrained me on the grounds that he was under medication. He died at night,” Karimi claimed.

The Ministry of Health does issue a circular alert to all counties on alcoholic drinks that have failed the analytic test.

A total of 390 samples of different brands have been collected and forwarded for analysis at the Government Chemist.  The audit will be out at the end of the month.

“The ministry is in the process of collecting independent samples from all the counties after the profiling of the manufacturers,” Dr Macharia said.

Additional reporting by JOSEPH MUCHIRI, MUNENE KAMAU, ONESMUS NZIOKA, PAUL MUTUA and Anthony Gitonga