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At least 51 people have died Libya after drinking tainted homemade alcohol in Tripoli. Over 378 have been taken to the hospital within days.
Methanol poisoning caused the deaths, a hospital official told BBC. In response to the poisoning, many patients were undergoing kidney dialysis for treatment.
Methanol is poisonous to the central nervous system and causes blindness, coma, and death.
The alcohol is locally known as bokha. Alcohol is banned in Libya and is sold through a black market.
Bokha is sometimes laced with methanol to increase its alcoholic content, reports the Libya Herald.
The bokha was made by and bought from a man based in the capital’s western suburb of Gargaresh, according to Tripoli National Security Directorate’s Facebook page, reported the Libya Herald.
People started to stream into the hospital on Thursday, local media reported. “The victims are from all over the capital, from Tajoura and Ain Zara to Gurji and Ghut Al-Shaal,” the Libya Herald wrote.
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