Over 20 teens were found unconscious inside a local tavern in East London, South Africa on Saturday night, but no one knows exactly how or why it happened.
While it is yet to be confirmed, authorities believe that the deaths may be linked to alcohol poisoning. The national Police Minister Bheki Cele broke down crying as he left the morgue where the kids bodies were taken. The youngest person that has died in this tragedy is said to have been only 13 years old. “It’s a terrible scene,” he told reporters. “They are pretty young. When you are told they are 13 years, 14 years and you go there and you see them. It breaks (you).”
Groups of people were gathered in the tavern’s parking lot while mortuary vehicles collected the bodies. According to the provincial government of Eastern Cape, 8 girls and 13 boys had died. 17 were found dead inside the tavern. The rest died in hospital.
19 year old Sinovuyo Monyane, who was hired by the bar to promote an alcohol brand, said she was still “confused” but felt lucky to be alive.
She said, “We tried moving through the crowd, shouting ‘please let us through,’ and others were shouting ‘we are dying, guys,’ and ‘we are suffocating’ and ‘there are people who can’t breathe’,” she told AFP.
“I passed out at that moment. I was running out of breath and there was a strong smell of some type of spray on in the air. We thought it was pepper spray,” she said.
She later regained her consciousnesses after someone sprayed water on her.
“I got up and realized that there were bodies lying around. I saw people being poured water, but those people did not even move,” she said in a phone interview.
“I could have died.”
According to the resident DJ, the building was entirely too packed, but people kept forcing their way in. “We tried to close the door but people kept pushing. The bouncers could not handle the crowd that was pushing from outside the entrance door. There were so many people,” the DJ said. He even cut the music off to try and control the crowd but it was not working. The crowd was just “unruly and could not be managed,” he said, adding he was “traumatized.”
A 16 year old told BBC, “The venue was packed. Entrance was free… and free alcohol was also being dished out. We started drinking and having fun with others,”.
“Those that were outside were trying to force their way in. Only two bouncers were at the scene to control the crowd. That’s when people started collapsing, they were dropping like flies.
“I thought they were just passing out because they had too much to drink. Many others including myself escaped through the windows. My friends are dead now and we’ve all been left traumatized.”
The exams have been completed and results are pending, but 5 bodies have yet to be identified as they wait for the families to come forward.
WebCelebDaily will keep you updated as this story develops.
