India: Deaths from contaminated alcohol in Tamil Nadu rise to 54 | News

Traders sell the cheap alcohol at huge profits to customers who cannot afford branded drinks.

At least 54 people have died and dozens are still in hospital in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu after drinking alcohol laced with methanol.

In Kallakurichi district, nearly 200 people have been treated since Wednesday and over 100 people continue to receive care in several hospitals.

As of Saturday, 48 men and six women had succumbed to the contaminated alcohol, while others were treated for symptoms such as vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea.

Since few can afford branded spirits, people regularly buy illegal alcohol. This sometimes leads to serious accidents and personal injuries, as some retailers add methanol to increase the potency of their drinks.

But methanol, a highly toxic chemical substance used for industrial purposes, can cause blindness, liver damage or death even in small amounts.

At least seven people were arrested by the authorities, according to MS Prasanth, a senior district official. Authorities had earlier said they had also seized 200 litres (6,763 fluid ounces) of the illegally produced alcoholic beverage.

The Tamil Nadu state government said on Thursday it had taken disciplinary action against 10 officials responsible for dealing with illegal liquor and had failed to prevent the incident.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin announced that the families of the victims and those being treated in hospital would receive financial compensation from the government. He also appointed a former Supreme Court judge to investigate the incident.

State ministers and opposition leaders, who have accused the government of failing to prevent mass poisonings, traveled to the district to meet victims and their families.

A mass cremation of the deceased has already been carried out, with the families administering the last rites side by side.

A similar incident in a nearby district of Tamil Nadu left more than a dozen people dead last year. In the northern state of Punjab, more than 120 people died in 2020.

In 2022, more than 30 people died in the eastern Indian state of Bihar and at least 28 people in the western Indian state of Gujarat after drinking contaminated alcohol sold without a license.