Greek police conduct sweep of tampered alcohol following two Irish deaths

Postmortem and toxicology exams are still awaiting results.

Police in Greece have conducted a sweep for contaminated or tampered alcoholic drinks on Ios following the deaths of two Irish teenagers last week. According to the Irish Mail on Sunday, police in Ios took drink samples from local bars and clubs during the week as part of their investigation into the deaths of Andrew O'Donnell and Max Wall. The two passed away in separate incidents within 24 hours of each other as Andrew fell while taking a shortcut home and Max suffered a cardiac episode following the death of his friend. The two 18-year-olds are set to be laid to rest today and Wednesday in Donnybrook. According to the publication, Greek police were allegedly already concerned about contaminated drinks on the island days before the two incidents but nothing was discovered. Tampered drinks are not uncommon in Greek bars as ethanol is mixed with methanol, water or other substances in order to make intoxicating effect stronger or weaker in order to sell more. Police have said that one in 10 drinks on the market in Greece are in some way contaminated. According to the initial postmortem results, Andrew O'Donnell died from a fall while Max Wall died from cardiac problems. Max reportedly had a history of heart problems and previously underwent surgery for his health issues. However, toxicology reports and full postmortem results won't be published until this week. The Leaving Cert students, both aged 18, died within 24 hours of one another on Sunday, July 2nd.

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