One man died, and two others are hospitalized at Longisa County referral hospital shortly after drinking alcohol purchased at a popular bar in Bomet town.
The two survivors, Joseph Korir and Richard Ng’etich, were rushed to Bomet Health Centre by bodaboda riders on Sunday morning with one in a coma having swellings on his mouth and face and one was reported dead on arrival at the facility.
Addressing the press in his office on Monday, the Bomet Central Sub County Police Commander (SCPC), Geoffrey Walumbe said that six people had consumed the brew but three started vomiting and diarrhearing and were rushed to hospital where one died on arrival as two others are still admitted.
“We established that the men had taken’ White Pearl ‘brand a product of London Distillers bought from an outlet. They then went to another pub where they drank one 250ml bottle of ‘Kenya Extra’ after which they began to develop complications and were taken to hospital by motorbike riders,” Walumbe said.
The SCPC said that they extracted samples of drinks from the Wines and Spirits and other samples from the bar which were forwarded to the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) for testing and government chemist are waiting for results.
He stated that any proof of poisoning on the dead victim can only be determined by a doctor after a postmortem is performed.
“This is an isolated incident since the two drinking joints are licensed to sell alcohol but we have to wait for results from both the government chemist and Kenya Bureau of Standards to ascertain whether the drinks were poisoned or not,” he said.
By Joseph Obwocha/Gift Muhuha
