Homemade alcohol kills 60 in Libya: Ministry

TRIPOLI (AFP) - Sixty people have died in Libya from drinking homemade alcohol and hundreds more been poisoned, the government said on Monday as authorities in the Muslim state vowed a crackdown on booze trafficking.

"The toll of victims from the impure alcohol has reached 60 dead and another 709 cases of poisoning," Osama Abdejalil, head of the health ministry's crisis team told a news conference about the poisoning, which broke out on Saturday.

Health Minister Nour Doghman said the poisoning was due to methanol in the cheap brew known locally as Boukha, and Libyans have been urged to stop consuming any form of alcohol.

Methanol, which is also used as fuel, is often mixed with homemade booze in small quantities to strengthen its alcoholic content.