While parents mourn the deaths of 21 children after a mysterious tragedy hit a tavern in East London, the public wants to know what exactly killed the group of teenagers, some as young as 13 years old.
Speculation has filled social media and Eyewitness News reported that “there is speculation that patrons were either exposed to some form of poison or an incident that resulted in a large number being injured and killed in a stampede. It’s understood bodies are lying strewn across tables, chairs and on the floor at the club – with no obvious signs of injury”.
Based on an online invitation that was shared by Enyobeni Scenery Park on Facebook on 24 June, the latest beliefs are that the children possibly inhaled or ingested a deadly substance.
The invitation uses the expression “kuzofiwa”, which, in a party context, is a slang term for, “It’s going to be a great time”, but its literal translation in isiXhosa, however, is: “There is going to be death”, as reported by the Daily Maverick.
The victims’ bodies were reportedly found slumped over chairs and couches or on the floor in a circle, which supports the idea that the children could have been exposed to something lethal.
According to Unathi Binqose, spokesperson for the Eastern Cape Department of Community Safety, initial autopsy results also point to the cause of death being from something they inhaled or ingested.
In an interview with the Daily Maverick, Binqose stated that the forensic pathologists “said it was something they ingested, possibly from the beers they were consuming, or something they inhaled from those hubbly-bubblies [water pipes or hookahs] that they were smoking”.
The Facebook invitation indicates that “hooka food and alcohol” would have been available on the night.
Although forensic investigations suggest that the cause of death could possibly have been something consumed or inhaled, nothing has been confirmed by authorities yet. The investigation is still ongoing.
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Twenty dead in Eastern Cape tavern tragedy, cause still unknown
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