By Jameson Chauluka:
A 34-year-old man in Chikwawa District died on Sunday afternoon after taking part in a beer drinking contest, whose prize money was K2,000.
Chikwawa Police spokesperson, Foster Benjamin, said the victim—Tito Baleti— died at Nchalo Trading Centre due to excessive drinking in the contest.
“Baleti joined a team of drunkards fighting for prize money worth K2,000. Taking his turn, Baleti guzzled non-distilled ethanol beer and collapsed instantly. He was later taken home, where he died hours later,” he said.
He said such competitions were common in the district but are not reported to the police unless something goes wrong.
Benjamin said the police would not charge the organiser of the competition with manslaughter, saying his intentions were innocent.
Benjamin said post-mortem results revealed that Baleti, who was from Hanoki Village, Group Village Head Sekeni, Paramount Chief Lundu in the district, died because of low blood sugar.
Meanwhile, police are warning the public, especially the youth, to desist from drug and alcohol abuse.
Village Head Hanoki Monday said it was the first direct beer-related death in his village.
“The problem of alcoholism in my village is huge. Early in the morning, you find our youths in bars drinking. This is bad and we have engaged the youth to warn them of the dangers of such type of drinking,” he said.
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