At least 50 dead and 70 hospitalised after drinking traditional Mozambique beer
Stacks of liquor are sold on the streets of Maputo, Mozambique. (Getty Images)
At least 50 people in the north-west of Mozambique have died of apparent poisoning after consuming traditional beer known as "phombe".
Carla Mosse, director of health for the province of Tete, told Radio Mozambique that 70 people were still hospitalised Sunday after suffering the same type of beer poisoning that caused the first fatalities Saturday morning.
"This situation is very sad. It's the first time we've faced such a tragedy," Ms Mosse said.
The exact cause of the contamination remains unknown, but the woman who brewed the traditional beer and several members of her family were among the poisoning victims, Radio Mocambique reported.
A local official said samples of the poisoned beer, blood, urine and gastric fluids have been taken and are being sent to Maputo and South Africa for analysis.
The ill patients are being treated at rural hospitals in the towns of Chitima and Vila Songo.
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