More than 30 deaths may have been caused by tainted liquor

• Authorities give details of the tragedy in India.
• Over 30 people have died due to suspected tainted liquor.
• What happened to the victims?

Tragedy because of alcohol! Many people around the world like to drink alcoholic beverages, but few imagine that their drink could suddenly kill them. More than 50 people paid the price for drinking liquor that may have been tainted.

At least 31 people have died and 20 others were hospitalized in serious condition after allegedly drinking adulterated liquor that was sold without authorization, authorities said Thursday. Several of the 20 hospitalized had lost their sight, police officer Santosh Kumar said.

How did the tragedy occur?

The tragedy occurred in eastern India and the multiple victims came from three villages in the Saran district of the state of Bihar, where the manufacture, sale and consumption of liquor is prohibited, according to The Associated Press. The deaths were reported Tuesday and Wednesday at a government hospital.

Families brought in the sick, revealed Dr. SD Sinha, director of the hospital. The sale and consumption of alcohol was banned in the state of Bihar in 2016, after a women’s campaign centered on poor workers squandering their meager income on drinking.

More than a thousand people have died from tainted liquor

Several opposition parties, such as the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata (BJP), protested on Thursday outside the state legislature building to demand that the ban on alcohol be removed and that financial compensation be given to families of the victims.

More than 1,000 people have died from drinking adulterated liquor since the ban was imposed six years ago, said Sushil Modi, the BJP leader in the state. The BJP, which rules India, is in opposition in the state, according to The Associated Press.

What they put in the liquor to make it «stronger»

Nitish Kumar, the state’s highest-ranking elected official and a member of the socialist Janata Dal party, rejected their requests, saying the ban was «not my personal wish, but rather a response to the voices of women in the state». Three people were detained for questioning for allegedly selling adulterated alcohol in the area, he said.

Saran district lies almost 40 miles north of Patna, the capital of Bihar state, according to AP. Deaths from illegally produced alcohol are common in India, where moonshine is cheap and often laced with chemicals like pesticides to make it more potent. Filed Under: 30 Killed by tainted liquor

19 other deaths

Illegal alcohol has also become a highly profitable industry in the country, where bootleggers pay no taxes and sell vast amounts of product to the poor at low prices, according to the AP. Just a few days before the tragedy in India, something similar occurred in Colombia.

At the beginning of the Christmas festivities in Colombia, authorities reported 19 people had died after consuming adulterated liquor that contained methanol. The Bogotá Health Secretary, Alejandro Gómez, said that there was an emergency in the capital due to the consumption of methyl alcohol, which is highly toxic and is generally used for industrial purposes. Filed Under: 30 Killed By Contaminated Liquor

Officials issue a warning

Methanol can cause central nervous system damage, blindness, respiratory distress, and even death. Between November 24 and December 7, there have been 16 deaths from this in Bogotá and three more in the neighboring municipality of Soacha, according to The Associated Press.

Another 12 people have been treated in medical centers in Bogotá for poisoning from the consumption of adulterated beverages. Gómez explained that they have found that the victims are usually low-income people who have drinking problems. Filed Under: 30 Killed by tainted liquor