At least 48 people have died and around 100 others are hospitalized in southern Nigeria after consuming a locally brewed alcoholic drink suspected to contain toxic methanol, officials said Thursday.
Banji Ajaka, commissioner for health in Ondo state, reported that 182 people were affected across the Odigbo and Irele local government areas. He warned that methanol rapidly damages organs, causing kidney failure, blindness and brain damage.
Locals suspect a popular high-proof herbal concoction, known as "Monkey Tail," was adulterated with methanol. Ondo state police spokesman Abayomi Jimoh said that 15 people have been arrested, including a producer suspected of manufacturing the toxic liquor.
Unregulated, low-cost local alcohol is widely consumed across rural Nigeria. The deaths occur as Nigeria's National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control enforces a nationwide ban on alcohol sold in sachets and small plastic bottles.