The Disaster Risk Management Committee in the Kavango East Region has put on hold the sale of homebrew at Kayova Village until further notice.

This comes after the deaths of 16 people in the village from suspected food poisoning.

The Kavango East Disaster Management Committee requested the Headman of Kayova Village to stop the sale of homebrew at the village during an urgent meeting where it was briefed on the matter at hand by the Ministry of Health and Social Services as well as the Police.

The committee is also calling on all the villagers who have consumed homebrew to openly come forward for testing.

"Those that have consumed this contaminated mahangu, please let them feel free to come forth and go to the hospital to get treatment because I was informed the level of this poison is so very dangerous, so therefore, we are just urging the whole village to now stop the home-brewed beer so that you can go for testing," said committee chairperson Damian Maghambayi.

The committee will be visiting the Kamungu family, who lost 16 members aged between three and 33, to start funeral arrangements.

Woita Kapumburu, the Acting Health Director for Kavango East, says six people are in stable condition and receiving counselling at the hospital.