A toxicology report released on Thursday suggests that the 21 teenagers who died at Enyobeni Tavern suffocated to death due to overcrowding. The teenagers died on 26 under mysterious circumstances.
The Department of Health in the Eastern Cape has received the toxicology report into the Enyobeni tavern deaths and briefed the parents of the deceased teenagers individually about the cause of death.
The 21 died during a pen’s down party at Enyobeni Tavern in East London in July. The incident sent shockwaves around the country and sparked talks about issues od underage drinking in the country.
It is understood that the parents of the deceased have been disagreeing with the authorities over the “credibility of the results”.
Family members of the deceased said they were not happy with how the results were given to the by the officials, with others questioning why officials refused to give them physical copies of the report.
One of the family members told dispatch: “I got angry shortly after they started to address us. They are addressing us individually, but I am not happy with their conduct. We told them we want the results to be documented. They are refusing to give us something written down,” said a family member.
According to News24, earlier reports from officials showed that high levels of methanol were found were found in the bodies of the teenagers. Methanol is a type of alcohol that can be poisonous to humans.
Siyanda Manana, the provincial health spokesperson, told the media that the process of disclosing the cause of death to the families was underway.
Manana refused to answer further questions, saying he would only brief the media after the process is concluded.
Source: The South African, Briefly, Times Live, ENCA, News24, image from Twitter IOL
