Portraits of some teenagers are seen on empty coffins during symbolic mass memorial service in East London on 6 July 2022, after 21 people, mostly teens, died at the Enyobeni tavern last month. Photo: Phill Magakoe / AFP
The discovery of methanol in the blood samples of the victims of the Enyobeni tavern tragedy in the Eastern Cape has raised the possibility of a spiked concoction as the likely cause of the death of the 21 teenagers.
In June 2020 seven people from Masiphumelele in Fish Hoek, Western Cape, died from methanol poisoning after drinking a substance mixed with milk or a soft drink.
Methanol, a toxic alcohol used industrially as a solvent, pesticide and alternative fuel source, was found in the blood samples of all the victims at the Enyobeni tavern.
In addition to methanol, carbon monoxide and alcohol blood levels of up to 0.26 grams per 100ml of blood were found in the samples. The Eastern Cape government, however, still has no answers on the exact cause of the teenagers’ death – three weeks after the tragedy happened.
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Dr Litha Matiwane, Eastern Cape health department deputy director general for clinical services, said these were just qualitative results and cannot yet be used to verify the exact cause of the deaths.
“There is still progressive analysis of the levels of methanol. So we just have the qualitative results that says all 21 of them had methanol in their blood, but we still need to get the quantitative levels which will then tell us whether these were at lethal or non-lethal levels as well,” he said.
Matiwane explained that methanol is alcohol, but not the base alcohol for liquor, which is ethanol.
“Methanol is a toxic type of alcohol,” he said.
But Matiwane said they did not want to speculate on the cause of death until conclusive results were obtained.
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He said the results of other tests were still needed to form a solid conclusion on the cause of the deaths. testing processes were looking for other activities that may come through such as formic acid, which he said was a by-product of methanol.
One of these is formic acid – a by-product of methanol – which Matiwane said might tell them about the concentrations and the levels of methanol and toxicity.
“Gastric bowel contents will tell us the contents of what they were drinking… the levels of methanol will also indicate whether it was ingested… or [came] as a byproduct of another substance,” he said.
He said the first three samples were for blood alcohol levels, carbon monoxide levels and qualitative methanol levels.
He said blood alcohol levels on the victims ranged from 0.05 grams to 0.26 grams per 100ml of blood. Matiwane said this was not conclusive of lethal toxicology and this might not have been final cause of death.
Matiwane said the second layer of results that came through was that of carbon monoxide, which ranged from 3.3% to 21% saturation of haemoglobin.
Carbon monoxide is an odourless, colourless gas formed by the incomplete combustion of fuels, which portable back-up generators produce.
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He said under normal circumstances lethal toxicology levels are expected to be above 50%, “so again the understanding is that this might not yet be the final cause of… lethal toxicology”.
Matiwane said the provisional results rule out a stampede but they still have no idea what concoction killed the teenagers.
According to Rhys Evans, director of substance abuse testing company ALCO-Safe, 0.05 grams per 100ml is the drink driving limit for private drivers in SA.
He said this was about two-and-a-half drinks depending on the size of a person and then 0.26 grams per 100ml is about 12 drinks.
“Maybe a bit more or less depending on the size of the person. It is very intoxicated but would not be considered as a fatal level. Normally we regard 0.4 and upwards as alcohol poisoning and potentially lethal but there are those who can handle a lot more,” Evans said.
He said if the children had a 0.26 alcohol level in their blood it is still very high and “completely unacceptable”.
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Evans said methanol was usually used in cleaning spirits and should not be consumed.
“However it is sometimes spiked into drinks to increase the alcohol levels. It can also come from a badly manufactured home brew,” he added.
The police have opened an inquest into the deaths, with the police’s forensic science laboratory working with the department of health’s pathology unit in investigating the cause of deaths.
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