- Central regional commissioner Fredrick Shisia said angry Kangai villagers raided and torched the bar linked to deaths.
- He said security teams were on the ground to handle the crisis.
Image: KNA
A section of residents in Kirinyaga burnt down a bar after 10 people died from consuming expired alcohol.
At least four others were reported blind after they consumed the chemical on Monday, officials said.
Central regional commissioner Fredrick Shisia said angry Kangai villagers raided and torched the bar linked to deaths.
He said security teams were on the ground to handle the crisis.
“Our teams are pursuing the case and intend to prefer serious charges including murder,” he said.
The residents stormed the bar at dawn Wednesday destroying property before setting it ablaze.
During the raid, crates of beer, tables and other property were destroyed, police and witnesses said.
Residents said the revellers went to a local bar on Monday night and ordered the drink, which they enjoyed while chatting before heading home.
However, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, the victims began complaining of stomach pains and vomiting.
Six of the victims died at home while the rest succumbed in hospitals. The contents of the brew are yet to be known.
The National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse said it is alarmed by the deaths and loss of eyesight among people reported to have consumed the suspicious alcoholic drinks.
“From preliminary reports, the deaths occurred as a result of consumption of an unidentified substance whose contents are yet to be established,” Nacada chief executive officer Anthony Omerikwa said.
He also cautioned the public on the rising cases of illicit alcohol-related deaths and illnesses.
Omerikwa urged the public to avoid the consumption of alcohol whose quality cannot be verified.
He appealed to the county governments to execute their devolved licensing mandate to control the proliferation of bars, and wines and spirits outlets, many of which do not meet the required operating standards.
At least six family members are among those who died and five others went partially blind after consuming illicit liquor in Kangai village, Mwea East, Kirinyaga county.
Kerugoya County Health boss George Karoki said among the deceased was a patient who had been referred to the Kerugoya County Referral Hospital but died upon arrival on Tuesday.
Karoki said relatives of the deceased said that five other family members had died within their residences after consuming the liquor and that their bodies had been moved to a funeral home.
"We are told that they died at their residences and were therefore taken straight to mortuary," he said.
"The five are said to have been among a group that took a notorious, potent illicit liquor sold in the region."