Beer contaminated with deadly crocodile bile has been blamed for the deaths of 69 people and the severe illness of dozens others in Mozambique.

The nation's leaders have declared Monday to Wednesday a time of mourning and tribute to the victims.

Authorities, meanwhile, have been trying to pin down exactly how the deaths were caused; a tragic case of mass poisoning that has sent 196 others with grave symptoms to the hospital.

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Some of the victims believe they have taken the deadly alcoholic concoction at a funeral over the weekend in Mozambique's province of Tete.

A local brew, pombe, that is derived from corn flour or millet and usually offered at formal gatherings, was served to people at the packed funeral of a child over the weekend. Authorities said people who guzzled the beer in the morning were fine but those who took it in the afternoon became gravely sick.

They concluded that the beer was contaminated with the poisonous bile during the day.

The owner of the stall where the beer drink was served - along with her child, nephew and four neighbors - were among the first fatalities, a magazine reported.

Authorities said the mother of the child lying in the funeral bed, who brewed the beer, was also dead.

A health official told a local radio station that authorities were alerted when people complaining of muscle pain and diarrhea began flocking to hospitals and then bodies from several neighborhoods also turned up at the hospital.

Investigators are currently testing samples from sick people.

Crocodile bile poisoning is a usual problem in the area.

Tagscrocodile bile, Beer, tainted beer, beer poisoning, Mozambique