69 dead in Mozambique after drinking deadly beer

At least 69 people including a toddler in the north-west of Mozambique have died from apparent poisoning after consuming traditional beer known as “phombe”, local authorities said on Sunday.

phombeCarla Mosse, director of health for the province of Tete, told Radio Mocambique that 39 people remained hospitalized Sunday after suffering the same type of beer poisoning that caused the first deaths Saturday morning.

All the victims – who included a two-year-old child – participated in a funeral Friday during which they apparently drank the traditional beer made from millet bran, the Mozambique paper A Verdade reported. 

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A former professor of food safety and the publisher of barfblog.com, Powell is passionate about food, has five daughters, and is an OK goaltender in pickup hockey. Download Doug’s CV here. Dr. Douglas Powell editor, barfblog.com retired professor, food safety 3/289 Annerley Rd Annerley, Queensland 4103 dpowell29@gmail.com 61478222221 I am based in Brisbane, Australia, 15 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time