Abuja, June 23 (IANS) The Nigerian police on Wednesday said they have launched an investigation to unravel how 10 people died in the Kwara state after allegedly consuming a local "herbal drink" purported to be the cure for a foot infection.

Ajayi Okasanmi, the spokesman for the police in Kwara, said in a statement that the victims, who are members of the same family, died on Tuesday after taking the herbal mixture prescribed by two family friends in the Biogberu area of the state, Xinhua reported.

Okasanmi disclosed that the two suspects have been arrested, saying they gave a woman with a foot infection the herbal mixture which she was instructed to share with all members of her family to prevent "the spread of the disease."

"After taking the local herbal mixture, the family members started dying one after the other. At the last count, 10 members, including the infected woman, have died," said the spokesman.

The suspects will be arraigned in court at the conclusion of the police investigation, he said.

--IANS int/