A 15-year-old refugee who dreamed of returning home has died after drinking gin believed to have been adulterated with methanol.
Soffia Del Valle Torrealba Ramos asked her mother if she could go out to buy fireworks with her 13-year-old cousin in the early hours of Thursday (1 Jan).
Instead, they met up with friends, bought a bottle of gin from a nearby off-licence, and went to one of their homes to drink.
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“She only came back around 9am. Then she went to sleep,” her devastated mother, Nelkis Del Valle Ramos Hernandez, told local media.
Soffia later fell ill and had to be admitted to a local hospital. She spent two days at the facility in São Paulo, Brazil, before dying.
The medical report from Hospital Municipal Cidade Tiradentes said Soffia suffered “kidney dysfunction”, which led to a build-up of acidic substances in her body.
“Methanol poisoning” was cited as the possible cause, as reported by Need To Know.
Soffia, her mother, stepfather, and two sisters fled the poverty and repression of their native Venezuela in 2019. She had longed to return one day.
Her mother, 36, said: “She was an incredibly loving girl, a diligent student, always willing to help others.
“She had dreams, she wanted to study, and she held onto the hope of returning to our country, where our family still lives.”
A keen football player, Soffia will be laid to rest in São Paulo today (6 Jan).
Police are investigating her death, and the five people who were with her before she became ill will be questioned. None of them fell unwell.
Authorities have identified the off-licence and are investigating the origin of the drink. Bottles of whisky, gin, rum, and vodka have been seized from the premises.
The owner has been arrested, although the charges relate to unauthorised electricity supply and illegal storage of fireworks.
Eleven people died last year in São Paulo after drinking alcohol tainted with methanol, according to state authorities.
Results from post-mortem toxicology tests on Soffia are yet to come.
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