More than 100 were admitted to hospital after consuming alcohol spiked with poisonous methanol
\n Andhra Pradesh
\nAt least 34 people have died, with dozens more being treated in hospital, after drinking illegally brewed alcohol in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the authorities said.
\nA state government spokesperson on Thursday confirmed the deaths caused by consuming alcohol tainted with methanol.
\n\u201cSuch crimes that ruin the society will be suppressed with an iron fist,\u201d the state\u2019s chief minister MK Stalin posted on social media platform X.
\nThe incident occurred in the Kallakurichi district, where more than 100 people suffering from vomiting, stomach ache and diarrhoea were admitted to hospitals, triggering a police investigation.
\nDistrict official MS Prasanth said the number of patients in critical condition kept changing, suggesting that the death toll could rise.
\nThe state government confirmed in a statement that it had suspended at least 10 officials, including the district\u2019s collector and police chief.
\nPolice arrested one person for selling illicit liquor and seized 200 litres (7,039fl oz) of the methanol-mixed alcoholic drink, the government said.
\nAmbulances, doctors and specialists from nearby areas were deployed to the district to handle the crisis.
\nDeaths from illegally brewed alcohol, popularly called hooch, are common in India, where the poor cannot afford licensed brands from government-run shops.
\nThe illicit liquor, which is often spiked with chemicals such as methanol, used in products from paint thinners to fuel, to increase potency.
\nIf ingested, methanol can cause blindness, liver damage and death.
\nThe industry is hugely profitable as bootleggers pay no taxes and sell enormous quantities of their product to the poor at a cheap rate.
\nIn 2022, more than 30 people died in eastern India\u2019s Bihar state and at least 28 died in Gujarat state in the west after drinking tainted liquor sold without authorisation.
\nAnd in 2020, at least 120 people died after drinking tainted liquor in India\u2019s northern Punjab state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
More than 100 were admitted to hospital after consuming alcohol spiked with poisonous methanol Andhra Pradesh At least 34 people have died, with dozens more being treated in hospital, after drinking illegally brewed alcohol in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the authorities said. A state government spokesperson on Thursday confirmed the deaths caused […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413577,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-413547","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n