Authorities in South Africa are investigating the deaths of 21 youths, who were found dead inside a nightclub in East London at the weekend, said today that the victims died from something they ate, drank or smoked, ruling out the possibility that they were trampled to death.
The so far unexplained deaths of the youngsters, some of whom were celebrating the end of school exams and others were attending a birthday party, have caused a wave of emotion and shock in a country used to poisonings linked to a culture of excessive drinking.
A 13-year-old girl among the dead
"Either it was something they consumed that would cause poisoning - food or drink - or something they inhaled," Unati Binkose, the spokesman for the Eastern Cape provincial community safety department, said by telephone today.
He said visual footage taken from security cameras showed hookahs.
"We completely ruled out trampling," he added after initial press reports suggested it may have caused the deaths of the youths.
Police said 21 were dead, one short of the initial toll.
[BR][BR]An Eastern Cape police spokesman told Reuters the youngest of the victims was a 13-year-old girl.
"The bodies were scattered"
According to local newspaper DispatchLive, "the bodies were scattered, on tables, chairs and the floor", bearing "no obvious signs of injury".
Authorities are expected to conduct a toxicology report as part of the investigation.
President Cyril Ramaphosa yesterday expressed concern about the circumstances under which young people - some under the age of 18 - were allowed to gather at the bar. In South Africa, the sale of alcohol to persons under the age of 18 is prohibited.
Source: APE-MPA
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