Illegal alcohol kills 31 in India
At least 31 people have been killed and many others in hospital after drinking illegally brewed liquor in Uttar Pradesh state
India: bootleg alcohol kills 31
Residents of the Uttar Pradesh State in India fell ill after they drank a bad batch of alcohol that was illegally brewed. Over a 100 people are believed to be affected by the alcohol, and the death toll is expected to rise.
Doctors said that some of the victims were depending on artificial ventilation and some had lost their eyesight.
Deaths related to toxic alcohol consumption are not rare in India, as people often buy and consume cheap country liquor.
Government official Anil Garg said that most of the victims had been at a cricket match on Sunday evening in a village on the outskirts of the state capital Lucknow.
The shop owner who sold 200ml pouches of the liquor at about 30 cents each, has been arrested. A raid of the shop has revealed containers of chemicals that have been sent for ulterior testing.
Dr Kausar Usman, head of the trauma centre at Lucknow's King George's Medical College, told the Associated Press “The symptoms gave a clear indication that these patients were served methyl alcohol, which despite being toxic is sometimes mixed with ethyl alcohol to make a brew cheaper.”
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav suspended six police officers suspected of taking bribes to ignore complaints against the shop and its alcohol and announced that a "drive will be launched against those involved in the illicit liquor trade".
