31 Dead After Taking Poisonous Alcohol In India

Authorities and local media in India’s Bihar state reported that at least 31 people died and several more were hospitalized after drinking poisonous alcohol.

The deaths occurred primarily in two villages in the impoverished eastern state, where the sale and consumption of liquor was banned in 2016 following a campaign by women’s groups against poor employees squandering their meager earnings on drinking.

Several Indian states have such laws in place, fueling a robust underground market for cheap alcohol made in unregulated backstreet distilleries, which kills hundreds of people each year.

Men in Saran district, approximately 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of state capital Patna, began vomiting on Tuesday before their condition deteriorated.

Several people died on the way to the hospital and others died while being treated on Wednesday and Thursday, according to local media sources. Officials are concerned that the death toll will increase further.

Senior police officer Santosh Kumar said several of the hospitalised people have lost their eyesight. He added that authorities cracked down on illicit alcohol shops in the area.

“We have arrested 126 people in the last 48 hours after the incident was reported and two cases have been registered,” Kumar told Al Jazeera.

Dr. Gopal Krishna, who runs a basic health care center in Saran, told Al Jazeera that approximately 55 people arrived at the facility on Wednesday with a variety of ailments.

“Some complained of loss of vision, nausea, dizziness, sweating, high blood sugar, and high blood pressure. Among them, 15 were discharged after treatment and the rest were referred to different hospitals for advanced treatment,” he said, adding that four people died immediately after coming to the centre.

Several opposition parties, including the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), protested outside the state legislature building on Thursday, demanding that perhaps the state’s booze ban be lifted and that grieving families be compensated financially.

Since the ban was enforced six years ago, more than 1,000 people have died as a result of consuming tainted liquor, according to Sushil Modi, the state BJP leader.

(Al Jazeera)