Swahili/Nat
An illegal, home brew popular among poor Kenyans is being blamed for at least 68 deaths and sent another 245 to hospital in Nairobi.
All the victims died in two slums where a consignment of the illicit brew was believed to have been brought in from the west of the country.
Police said the death toll would probably rise much higher and warned many people might lose their sight.
The illegal brew claimed its victims in Sinai and Mukuru, two of Nairobi's many sprawling, desolate slums.
The home brew was laced with methanol.
The police said that 62 deaths occurred in Nairobi, and six others in Kiambu district, north of the Kenyan capital.
Poverty is widespread in Kenya, which is going through its worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1963.
More than half its 29 (M) million people live on less than a dollar a day.
Illegal home brew is popular among poor Kenyans because it is cheap and extremely strong.
Traditionally, the ingredients range from fermented corn and sorghum meal to juice from coconut and sugarcane.
In recent years, however, and mostly in urban areas, high-octane fuel and mentholated spirit are added to
enhance potency.
A glass of the illegal brew, known locally as "changaa," costs 10 shillings (12 U-S cents) compared to 50
shillings (40 U-S cents) for a bottle of beer.
Many of the people that had consumed the brew were treated in the Kenyatta National Hospital.
SOUNDBITE (Swahili )
"I drank from that alcohol but I haven't felt sick yet, so I just came to the hospital for a check-up."
SUPER CAPTION: Peter Mwathe
Some 18 people have been arrested in connection with the incident.
Police have also taken samples of the brew to be tested.
An undetermined number of people were arrested in connection with the incident.
This is the third time in four years that dozens of people have died after consuming home brew.
In 1996, 24 people died and six became blind after drinking illicit brew.
Two years later another 100 met the same fate, and the government outlawed the drink.
