At least 22 people have been confirmed dead and several others hospitalised in India after allegedly drinking toxic alcohol, authorities said on Thursday.
The deaths which were recorded between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, according health officials, happened mainly in two villages in the eastern state of Bihar where sale and consumption of liquor are prohibited.
The ban on alcohol in several Indian states, has however, seen driving a boisterous and thriving black market for cheap alcohol made in unregulated backstreet distilleries that have killed hundreds of people every year, a local media reports.
The illicit liquor is often spiked with methanol to increase its potency and if ingested in large quantities, can cause blindness, liver damage and death.
“In the latest incident, victims in Saran district began vomiting on Tuesday before their condition deteriorated.
“Three died on the way to hospital and others died while being treated on Wednesday and Thursday,” the reports said, putting the death toll at 31.
Hospital chief Sagar Dulal Sinha said 22 post-mortem examinations had been conducted so far while a senior police officer Santosh Kumar, said authorities had cracked down on illicit alcohol shops in the area.
“We have arrested over a dozen liquor traders and detained some others,” Kumar told reporters.
In July, 42 people died in the western state of Gujarat after drinking bootleg booze while about 100 people died in the northern state of Punjab in a similar incident last year.
