BENGALURU, India: The death toll from a batch of toxic illegal alcohol in India had risen to 56, police said Monday, with 117 people in hospital recovering from the deadly drink.
Last week, hundreds of people in Kallakurichi district in the southern state of Tamil Nadu consumed a batch of locally made "arrack", which was laced with methanol.
Hundreds of people die every year in India from cheap alcohol made in backstreet distilleries, but this poisoning is one of the worst in recent years.
To increase its potency, the liquor is often spiked with methanol, which can cause blindness, liver damage and death.
Top district police official Rajat Chaturvedi told AFP that “56 people have died so far and around 117 people are currently under medical treatment.”
Political rivals in the state have blamed each other for the deaths, and the site of the tragedy witnessed a protest by local opposition politicians Monday.
Tamil Nadu is not a dry state, but liquor traded on the black market comes at a lower price than alcohol sold legally.
Selling and consuming liquor is prohibited in several other parts of India, further driving the thriving black market for potent and sometimes lethal moonshine.
Last year, poisonous alcohol killed at least 27 people in one sitting in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, while in 2022, at least 42 people died in Gujarat.
Indian media reported that poor laborers in Kallakurichi district regularly bought the liquor in plastic bags costing 60 rupees ($0.70), which they would drink before work.
This batch, however, was devastating. Some people went blind, while others collapsed in the street and died before they could make it to hospital.
Deaths from Indian toxic alcohol rise to more than 56
https://arab.news/gwsnq
Deaths from Indian toxic alcohol rise to more than 56
- Locally brewed arrack drink was laced with poisonous methanol, killing 37 within hours after they drank the illegal alcohol
- Tamil Nadu is not a dry state, but liquor traded on the black market comes at a lower price than alcohol sold legally
South Korea calls for resuming dialogue with North
- President Lee Jae Myung has sought to mend ties with the nuclear-armed North since taking office in June
- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last week dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul
SEOUL: South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called on Sunday for dialogue with North Korea to resume, after Pyongyang last week shunned the prospect of diplomacy with its neighbor.
Since taking office in June, a dovish Lee has sought to mend ties with the nuclear-armed North, which reaffirmed its anti-Seoul approach during a party meeting last week.
“As my administration has repeatedly made clear, we respect the North’s system and will neither engage in any type of hostile acts, nor pursue any form of unification by absorption,” Lee said in a speech marking the anniversary of a historical campaign against Japan’s colonial rule.
“We will also continue our efforts to resume dialogue with the North,” he said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last week dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul, describing its overtures as “clumsy, deceptive farce and a poor work.”
Speaking at the party congress in Pyongyang, Kim said North Korea has “absolutely no business dealing with South Korea, its most hostile entity, and will permanently exclude South Korea from the category of compatriots.”
But he also said the North could “get along well” with the United States if Washington acknowledges its nuclear status.
Speculation has mounted over whether US President Donald Trump will seek a meeting with Kim during planned travels to China.
Last year, Trump said he was “100 percent” open to a meeting.
Previous Trump-Kim summits during the US president’s first term fell apart after the pair failed to agree over sanctions relief — and what nuclear concessions North Korea might make in return.
