The women, who are from the Vaal University of Technology (VUT), fell ill on Monday.
JOHANNESBURG – Gauteng police have opened an inquest docket after the bodies of two women were found at their student residences after they mixed alcohol and cough syrup.
The women, who are from the Vaal University of Technology (VUT), fell ill on Monday.
The circumstances around their deaths are still being investigated.
“Paramedics were called and both students were certified dead. The bodies will be taken for toxicology and postmortem to determine the cause of death,” said police spokesperson Captain Mavela Masondo.
The mixture of cough syrups, soda, and hard candy is a known drug that is abused in large numbers by young people across the world.
Reports have indicated that deaths linked to codeine – which is found in some cough syrups – doubled in Australia between 2000 and 2009.
According to the Addiction Centre, the effects of codeine are believed to be similar to those of morphine or heroin.
