Authorities stated on Tuesday that it remains unclear what killed the 21 Eastern Cape youths who died in a bar in East London in June.
The provincial administration and police ministry of the Eastern Cape province announced during a briefing that preliminary laboratory toxicology testing had yielded inconclusive results.
The 13 to 17-year-olds mysteriously passed away at the Enyobeni bar in the metro in the early hours of June 26.
After preliminary investigations ruled out a stampede as a potential cause of death, lab testing were carried out.
Since then, the tavern’s proprietor and two of its staff members have been detained for violating laws governing the sale of alcoholic beverages.
On August 19, they will show up in court once more.
Dr. Litha Matiwane, the province’s deputy director-general for clinical services, presented the preliminary toxicology lab test findings during a press event organised by the Police Ministry and the Office of the Premier of the Eastern Cape.
“Post mortems were performed on that day,” he stated.
Then, we collected toxicology samples, primarily blood and stomach samples, which were submitted to labs in Cape Town.
The initial blood test results are now in from the lab.”
The first three conclusions concerned the quantities of methanol, carbon monoxide, and alcohol in the blood.
The range of blood alcohol concentrations was between 0.05 and 0.26 grams.
He said that this did not prove fatal toxicity by itself.
“At this time, [we] may thus state that this might not have been the cause of death.
“The carbon monoxide values, which similarly ranged from 3.3 percent to 21 percent saturation, made up the second layer of findings.
Normal conditions call for a toxicity rate of at least 50%. So once more, it is recognised that this may not be the final cause that we are investigating as deadly toxicity.
“Methanol is the final component that we were considering at this time.
All 21 of the people who were present have been found to have methanol in them.
The analysis of the methanol levels is, however, in progress. We still need to obtain quantitative amounts, but the quantitative analysis indicates that there was methanol in their bodies.
The information will then indicate whether these were fatal or not.
The incident, according to Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane, has destroyed and decimated the province.
“This must not occur once more. In this regard, we must be extremely careful,” he stated.
He stated that the families continue to receive psychosocial support.
“Today I realised that more work needs to be done… The pace and momentum of being around the families needs to pick up.
When a parent confides that this is my only child and that there is no chance of having another at my age, it hurts.
“It hurts terribly. The government is providing all of the assistance. We keep talking, and we already know where we need to go and where to provide support.
We will target specific families with targeted support to help them adjust and accept the things they cannot change.
According to Police Minister Bheki Cele, an inquest docket is being looked into by a special police task force.
“We promised to walk alongside families and the neighbourhood. Families we’ve spoken to have expressed continued pain, but I believe they will appreciate that we are considering everyone’s input.
“Some people have been detained; they will return to court on August 19 to go and defend themselves.
We take this issue extremely seriously, which is why there are police present.
We anticipate learning the truth about what actually transpired on that day as the case develops.
Cele left open the prospect of additional arrests.