A lethal mixture of locally brewed alcohol contaminated with methanol has killed at least 34 people in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
More than 100 others who consumed the toxic drink have been hospitalized, with many in critical condition.
According to the BBC, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin reported that methanol-tainted liquor caused the deaths and promised to crack down on illegal distilleries.
Hundreds of people die annually due to cheap, illicit liquor. Methanol can cause blindness, liver damage, and death.
In order to increase its potency the liquor is often spiked with methanol which can cause blindness, liver damage, and death.
In the Tamil Nadu case, more than 100 people were hospitalised according to M.S. Prasanth, a top government official in the state’s Kallakurichi district, quoted by Indian media.
State Governor R.N. Ravi was “deeply shocked” at the deaths, adding that “many more victims are in serious condition battling for (their) lives”, writing on social media platform X.
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 backstreet 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.
