Some 80 people have died in Uganda after drinking illegal home-made banana gin laced with methanol, a health official says

Many people have died because relatives did not want to admit that people had been drinking the gin, known as waragi. The deaths have occurred in the south-western Kabale district. The authorities were conducting house-to-house searches for the gin. Waragi is drunk across Uganda, often by those who cannot afford industrialized alcohol. Deaths from drinking it are common but this is the largest number killed at one time for several years. About 120 jerrycans of waragi have been seized. Those affected became blind and suffered liver and kidney failure before dying.