Poisoned Alcohol Death Toll: Methanol Found in Illegally Homemade Alcohol in Libya

Today's moonshine might not be quite like it was during prohibition, and especially in Libya, it's probably something different all together. According to the top security official in the country said as of Tuesday that 79 people have died over the past four days from drinking homemade alcohol, which allegedly contained poisonous methanol. The chemical is extremely posinous and usually only used for industrial and automotive purposes.

Colonel Mahmoud al-Sharif, security chief in Tripoli, said authorities are searching for two people believed to be involved in making the poisonous drinks, and he said authorities are also looking into whether it was the methanol or bad fermentation that caused the large number of victims.

According to reports, at least seven were found dead in their bed after consuming the alcohol, and began to arrive to hospitals on March 7.

Al-Sharif raised the death toll from the one earlier reported by the health minister Nouri Doghman, who said 60 people died.

Doghman said that some of those who survived, many were blinded or suffered kidney failure.  Delayed relief efforts have increased the death toll, according to Doghman. He said the dead range in age from 19 to 50 years old, and that Algerians and Tunisians were among them.

As the sale and consumption of alcohol is banned in the North African country, known for its conservative practices, many turn to the black market for alcohol and other illegal drugs.