Alcohol Poisoning Death Toll in Russian City Rises to 49

[jpak]

Source: ABC News

The death toll from alcohol poisoning in a Siberian city has risen to at least 49 Monday after the victims consumed a counterfeit bath lotion containing deadly methanol.

Local officials in Irkutsk went house-to-house in search for more victims and introduced a state of emergency Monday, while the Russian government called for tighter regulation of the alcohol market.

The sale of lotions and tinctures containing alcohol has risen in recent years as Russia has plunged into recession under the impact of Western sanctions and a slide in oil prices. Poisonings caused by cheap surrogate alcohol are a regular occurrence, but the Irkutsk case was unprecedented in its scale.

Russia's top investigative agency opened a probe into the incident and arrested several people suspected of involvement in selling the lotion.

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Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/30-die-alcohol-poisoning-russia-bath-lotion-44277506

[Roland99]

1. Because ol' Pooty Poot's economy is SO great that people resort to this to combat their woeful state

[sharp_stick]

2. Unfortunately this is not uncommon

in parts of Russia, especially the far flung regions of Siberia.

It's a hellish existence in these places. I don't know about Irkutsk in particular but they were designed decades ago to take advantage of slave labor and the amenities of many of the cities and towns are very sparse. The Government has not been able to upgrade them very much.