2019 India alcohol poisoning
In February 2019, nearly 100 people died after drinking contaminated alcohol in two neighboring states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand in northern India.[1][2]
Background
Deaths from illicit liquor are common in India, where illegally manufactured alcohol is often consumed for reasons including poverty and geographic isolation. Bootleggers have been known to add methanol, a toxic substance used in antifreeze, to such brews; it can also be present because of a mistake in the distilling process. According to the latest figures from India’s National Crime Records Bureau, 1,522 people died of drinking spurious liquor in 2015 — nearly all of them men.[3]
Incident
In Uttar Pradesh, the state that reported the majority of the deaths, had 36 people dying in Saharanpur district and eight in Kushinagar district.[4]
In Uttarakhand, 36 people died in Haridwar district after consuming illegal liquor served to them as part of a mourning ritual. Authorities said they believe the two incidents were linked, with mourners probably having made the journey from Uttar Pradesh to Uttarakhand to transport liquor to sell.[3][4]
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, received about 93 patients of methanol poisoning over a four-day period.[5]
The police arrested eight suspected bootleggers.[6][7]
See also
References
- ^ "Toxic Homemade Alcohol Kills Scores in India". The New York Times. 11 February 2019.
- ^ "Toxic alcohol kills dozens in northern India". BBC. 15 February 2019.
- ^ a b "Deadly brew: At least 76 people die in India after drinking bootleg liquor". Washington Post. 10 February 2019.
- ^ a b Gupta, Swati; Suri, Manveena (14 February 2019). "Crackdown on illegal bootleggers after 80 die from toxic hooch in India". CNN.
- ^ Kumar, Manish; Kaeley, Nidhi; Nagasubramanyam, Vempalli; Bhardwaj, Bharat Bhushan; Kumar, Subodh; Kabi, Ankita; Arora, Poonam; Dhar, Mridul (2019). "Single center experience of managing methanol poisoning in the hilly state of Uttarakhand: A cross sectional study". International Journal of Critical Illness and Injury Science. 9 (4): 172–176. doi:10.4103/IJCIIS.IJCIIS_49_19. ISSN 2229-5151. PMC 6927134. PMID 31879603.
- ^ "India: more than three dozen die in bootleg liquor poisoning". The Guardian. Associated Press. 9 February 2019.
- ^ "Bootleg liquor kills scores in India". Deutsche Welle. 9 February 2019.