Lilongwe man dies after high consumption of spirits

Unidentified man dropped dead recently at Msungwi Market in Area 25 in Lilongwe after he had reportedly taken too much hard spirits without eating any tangible food, witnesses said.

The man started drinking on Monday and he spent the whole night drinking till Tuesday morning when he tried to stagger home but fell near Smoker’s Bottle Store and passed on.

At around 11:00 AM some passersby tried to wake the man up but realized he had stopped breathing and the body had gone stiff.

The incident was reported to Msungwi Police Unit who later reported to Kanengo Police.

The body of the unknown man was taken to Kamuzu Central hospital for postmortem and identification, according to Salome Zgambo Chibwana, spokesperson for Kanengo Police Station.

There is an influx of cheap brands of alcoholic beverages such as gin, whisky and other spirits in various names despite the ban by the Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) on plastic bottled spirits.

MBS Director General, Davlin Chokazinga, is on record to have said his Bureau would ensure that the manufacturing, packaging, distribution and selling of liquor in plastics was completely stopped.

“These products are killing innocent Malawians and we can’t stand aside and watch people dying without taking action,” Chokazinga is on record to have said.

Meanwhile, the Competition and Fair Trading Commission (CFTC) has embarked on investigations against 21 manufacturers of the assorted spirits and liquor products following complaints of the company’s noncompliance to prescribed consumer safety standards.