34 die in Manado after consuming home-made liquor

Yongker Rumthe, The Jakarta Post, Manado

At least 34 people have died and dozens of others are in a critical condition in the North Sulawesi capital of Manado after consuming locally brewed liquor, police and hospital officials have said.

The chief of Manado Police, Adj. Sr. Comr. Yohanes Wardoyo, said the dead victims had consumed liquor with local brand names Champion and Pinaracci 234, with an alcohol content of more than 60.4 percent.

He said the 34 deaths were recorded between Nov. 10 and Nov. 27 by his office and that 18 of the victims died in hospitals in Manado.

Many victims were blinded while others are still in a critical condition in hospitals in the city, he added.

Deetje Londa, a spokesman for the Malalayang General Hospital in Manado, confirmed the death toll, and said two people among those being treated at her clinic had been blinded.

Local health authorities conducted laboratory tests on the two brands of liquor after receiving reports from locals.

Wa Ode Asnah Ganiu, head of the province's drug and food supervisory bureau, said that based on the test, the two drinks made of distilled palm sap contained 66.4 percent methanol.

"According to the required national standard No. 01-3550-1999, methanol must not exceed 0.1 percent against ethanol," she told The Jakarta Post.

"Seen from the level of methanol in the two alcoholic drinks, they were clearly poisonous and should not have been consumed any longer due to their very high alcohol content."

Asnah said that liquor containing only a 10 percent concentration of methanol had been known to cause blindness, let alone those with higher levels.

Wardoyo said on Tuesday that an autopsy on Jemy Limur, one of the dead victims, found his duodenum and brain swollen.

"It could be deduced that the victims suffered extreme pain before they died because of the swelling in their duodenum and brain," he added.

Dr. Satrio Pulukudung from Malalayang hospital confirmed that the victims underwent terrible clinical phenomena, such as vomiting, loss of consciousness and eyesight as well as experiencing high pressure, before dying.

Victims would face these effects two or three days after drinking the beverages, he said.

"The clinical indications experienced by the victims before death are very terrible, they could even be more dreadful that what we know in theory."

Asnah said her office had recommended that people be prohibited from consuming such poisonous drinks that had been sold without production and expiry dates stamped on their labels.

"We have issued an official notice calling for a ban of the distribution of the two alcoholic drinks," she said, adding that those currently in the markets would be withdrawn immediately.

North Sulawesi Police spokesman Sudarsono, confirmed that his office in cooperation with related health authorities had closed the factories producing the liquor located in the subdistricts of Molas and Maumbi in Manado.