Indian toxic alcohol 'kills 96'

[Coventina]

Source: BBC

At least 96 people are now known to have died in India's Gujarat state after drinking toxic illegal alcohol, police say.

Labourers in the city of Ahmedabad were admitted to hospital on Tuesday after drinking illegal brew on Monday night.

Authorities fear that this might not be the final death toll as dozens more people have been admitted to hospital.

Most of the dead are slum dwellers. Deaths from illegally brewed alcohol are common in South Asia.

Police raided various areas of Ahmedabad after the incident. A number of arrests are reported to have been made and the state government says six police officers have been suspended for negligence.

Last year, about 150 people died from drinking tainted alcohol in the southern states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Illegally brewed alcohol is readily found across India and is popular because it is cheap and said to be stronger than legal brews.

But it is often laced with chemicals and pesticides in an attempt to boost its strength and has often caused people to die.



Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8142029.stm

[fujiyama]

1. Gujrat is a dry state

This is what happens when substances are prohibited rather than properly regulated and legally sold.

[Warpy]

2. Yeah, they'll drink Lysol Spray here on Sunday mornings

when the grog is roped off in the supermarket. It kills brain cells at an alarming rate, but it'll get you there.

When are people going to finally figure out that nanny state laws do not work, ever? They just kill people.

[AlexDeLarge]

5. Yeah, I've watched guys in the park in DC drink

Aqua Velva, probably lifted from a local drug store. They get high alright, but see how well they can walk or even stand up.

[Warpy]

10. The point should be to keep access to the safe stuff open

and hope they hit bottom before they pass the point of no return and die before they can get sober.

Addiction is a hell of a disease and both alcohol and meth are the worst ones out there.

I try to point them toward the mouthwashes that still contain ethanol, but they prefer the Lysol spray, it's a cheaper high for more people.

[cosmicone]

3. Prohibition was another stupid idea by Mahatma Gandhi

and his egotistical brain.

I have a hard time believing he is revered so much after the damage he has caused India.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

8. so do i.

[TheCoxwain]

4. Lifting prohibition will not work.... This alcohol is consumed by the poorest of poor who will

probably not buy legally made stuff as long as the 10 cent chugs continue to be available on the market..


I heard on BBC that a glass of that brew costs a dime...

[La Lioness Priyanka]

7. disagree. other states have poor people too and dont see it happen there

[TheCoxwain]

11. ummm... I did a search and I got this ...

The following seems to be a peer reviewed article published in 1991

monline.com/article.asp?issn=0022-3859;year=1991;volume=37;issue=1;spage=9;epage=13;aulast=Mittal|Journal of Post Graduate Medicine>


Snip:


Adulteration of cheap liquor by methyl alcohol is common in India. In 1971, 90 deaths were reported from Khopoli due to methanol poisoning. Subsequently, 100 deaths from Hyderabad, 20 from Madras and more than 300 deaths from Bangalore have been reported<1>. There was a similar outbreak in 1983, when 47 cases were admitted to King Edward Memorial Hospital, Bombay. Two cases died before starting the treatments<8>. The present episode took comparatively a high toll of mortality with 28 fatal cases (28.86%) of the 97 cases admitted.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

12. interesting. especially bangalore. hyderabad is dry too.

i know they brew a home made liquor called bangla in bengal but it seems its not so much the liquor as the additives that are killing people

[Fumesucker]

9. The penalities for selling/making it must not be very high then..

Illegal cost more the higher the penalties against it..

[La Lioness Priyanka]

6. fucking gujarat should legalize alcohol and have fewer religion based riots

oh and modi should be strung up by his ankles