2019 India alcohol poisoning

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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]

Contents

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

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References

  1. "Toxic Homemade Alcohol Kills Scores in India". The New York Times. 11 February 2019.
  2. "Toxic alcohol kills dozens in northern India". BBC. 15 February 2019.
  3. 1 2 "Deadly brew: At least 76 people die in India after drinking bootleg liquor". Washington Post. 10 February 2019.
  4. 1 2 Gupta, Swati; Suri, Manveena (14 February 2019). "Crackdown on illegal bootleggers after 80 die from toxic hooch in India". CNN.
  5. 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.
  6. "India: more than three dozen die in bootleg liquor poisoning". The Guardian. Associated Press. 9 February 2019.
  7. "Bootleg liquor kills scores in India". Deutsche Welle. 9 February 2019.