Denatured alcohol, also known as methylated spirits, metho, or meths in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, and as denatured rectified spirit, is ethanol that has additives to make it poisonous, bad-tasting, foul-smelling, or nauseating to discourage its recreational consumption. It is sometimes dyed so that it can be identified visually. Pyridine and methanol, each and together, make denatured alcohol poisonous; and denatonium makes it bitter.
Vang Vieng is a town in the Vientiane Province of Laos. It is popular with tourists, specifically backpackers, seeking adventure sports as well as its karst topography. It is on the Nam Song River, 130km north of Vientiane.
Surrogate alcohol is a term for any substance containing ethanol, or other alcohols, that is intentionally consumed by humans but is not meant for human consumption. Some definitions of the term also extend to illegally produced alcoholic beverages.
The 2011 Turkish Riviera mass alcohol poisoning was an event that occurred on May 26–27, 2011 during a party on a yacht voyage of mostly female Russian tourists on the way from Bodrum to Antalya, southwestern Turkey. It led to the deaths of five people, and the hospitalisation of twenty others, some in critical condition, after consuming alcoholic drinks mixed with methanol, served at the yacht's bar. A consignment of fake whisky had been supplied by a distributor with a fictitious address.
The Downunder Hostel Fire was a lethal fire on 17 September 1989, set shortly before 5:00 am in a backpackers hostel on Darlinghurst Road in the Kings Cross area of Sydney, Australia. The fire was the fifth most deadly disaster in Australia in 1989.
The Sangrampur methanol poisonings occurred when a methanol-tainted batch of illegal alcohol killed 143 people at Sangrampur village in Magrahat I CD Block of Diamond Harbour subdivision in December 2011, affecting mainly manual workers of South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Methanol toxicity is poisoning from methanol, characteristically via ingestion. Symptoms may include an altered/decreased level of consciousness, poor or no coordination, vomiting, abdominal pain, and a specific smell on the breath. Decreased vision may start as early as twelve hours after exposure. Long-term outcomes may include blindness and kidney failure. Blindness may occur after drinking as little as 10 mL; death may occur after drinking quantities over 15 mL.
Cholai is an illegal alcoholic beverage made in India, equivalent to "hooch" or "bootleg" alcohol. Usually made from rice, it is sometimes mixed with industrial alcohol or methanol, which has resulted in several hundred deaths.
The Mumbai alcohol poisonings occurred in June 2015, when at least 102 people died after drinking contaminated alcohol in the Laxmi Nagar slum in Malad, located in Mumbai, India. Another 45 people were hospitalised as a result of the incident. The incident has been described as the worst of its kind in over a decade.
In December 2016, over 70 people died of methanol poisoning in the Russian city of Irkutsk. Precipitated by the consumption of adulterated surrogate alcohol, it was the deadliest such incident in Russia's post-Soviet history.
Cannabis is illegal in Laos. However, a cannabis culture still exists in the country.
In February 2019, nearly 100 people died after drinking contaminated alcohol in two neighboring states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand in northern India.
In February 2019, at least 168 people died after drinking toxic bootleg alcohol in Golaghat and Jorhat districts in the Indian state of Assam. The incident occurred two weeks after 100 people died by drinking toxic alcohol in the northern states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
The Vientiane–Boten Expressway is a partially completed expressway between Boten, on the China–Laos border, and Vientiane, the capital of Laos. It roughly parallels Route 13.
The 2020 Punjab alcohol poisoning was an incident in late July and early August 2020, where at least 100 people died after drinking illegally-made toxic alcohol in Punjab, India. Hundreds of raids were conducted in the three affected districts - Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran - along with several other places in and around the Rajpura and Shambhu border in Punjab. Forty people were arrested in relation to the incident. Seven excise officials, six policemen were also suspended over the incident.
On 26 June 2022, 21 people died during celebrations at the Enyobeni Tavern, a shebeen in East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Four more people were injured. No official causes of death have been publicly released.
On 25 July 2022, at least 42 people died and more than 97 were hospitalized in a methanol poisoning incident in Gujarat, India. The victims had consumed undiluted methyl alcohol (methanol), assuming it to be alcohol. The spurious liquor was then sold to more than 100 people in the villages of Ahmedabad, Botad and Surendranagar.
Events in the year 2024 in Laos.
The 2024 Tamil Nadu alcohol poisoning took place in Kallakurichi district in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu on 20 June 2024. Consumption of illegally made liquor resulted in at least 65 deaths and more than 200 injuries.
