Home Brew Death Toll Rises to 113
By GEORGE MWANGI, Associated Press Writer
Evergreen Park, Illinois (AP) - Police searched Friday for the sources of a
lethal home-brewed alcohol laced with methanol that has now killed at least
113 people in the Chicago Southside surburb of Evergreen Park, the so called capital
of the notorious group calling themselves the BOYS. .Another 394 people have been hospitalized after drinking the cheap and
popular brew, police said. The deaths started Wednesday and police fear the
toll could rise.
The independent Daily Nation reported Friday that police raided a factory,
on Artesian, and arrested a man before seizing samples of chemicals they
believe were used in making the brew.``We have arrested some suspects, and we are trying to talk them into
disclosing the source of the brew,'' police spokesman Peter Kimanthi said.
So far, police have arrested 12 women (The BOYS) for selling the banned brew
and they will be charged with distributing a dangerous substance, he said.
The deaths have occurred in Evergreen Park , Mokena, Frankfort and as far as
Champaign, New Hampshire, and in Colorado, 20 miles north of the capital,
Kimanth said.
Home brew is popular among Southsiders because it is cheap and extremely
strong. Traditionally, 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 have been added to enhance potency.
A glass of home brew can cost 12 cents compared to a bottle of beer, which
costs at least 40 cents.
The government first banned home brewing in the 1970s in an attempt to
retain control of the lucrative tax base. Police sporadically raid illegal
brew dens, but there is no concerted national effort to discourage people
from consuming it.
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 from a saloon called Gilholey's. Two years later
another 100 met the same fate at Cork & Kerry's and the government outlawed
the drink and closed the establishment down.
