Generator fumes ‘highly unlikely’ to have caused tavern deaths
Eastern Cape provincial health official pledge to update families of the 21 victims once results of toxicology tests are completed
The results of autopsies on the 21 victims at the Enyobeni tavern in Scenery Park, East London, are likely to be announced before a mass funeral for the youths on Wednesday next week.
A senior official in the Eastern Cape department of health’s forensic pathology services said: “It is highly unlikely the cause of death was fumes from a generator. However, we are waiting for toxicology results.”
eNCA reported on Wednesday morning that the cause of the deaths was possibly chemical poisoning.
“The postmortems have not been concluded. We will give a public account the moment the results come out. We have to tell the public what really led to the deaths of these 21 young lives,” said Unathi Binqose, a spokesperson for the Eastern Cape community safety.
“Families will be told what happened as soon as we have all the results of samples taken from the bodies. Our plea is for the media and the public to give the experts space to do their work.”
Provincial police spokesperson Brig Thembinkosi Kinana said investigations into the incident were continuing.
“No new information is available at this stage and no arrests have been made. A statement will be released once there is a development,” Kinana said.
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