6 die after consuming spurious liquor in southern India
Xinhua, December 7, 2015 Adjust font size:
At least six people died and 15 others were battling for their lives at a hospital after consuming spurious liquor in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh Monday.
"The victims were all daily laborers, who went to a local bar in the state's Vijayawada district and had the toxic liquor before going for work," he said, on condition of anonymity.
While two people died on the spot after vomiting, four others succumbed in the hospital where all the victims were rushed to, the official said.
Doctors told the local media that all the victims fell prey to alcohol poisoning as methanol, a chemical used as an anti--freeze or fuel, was added to the liquor to increase the alcohol content.
"We will not spare anyone who is responsible for this incident," state Excise Minister Kollu Ravindra said.
Deaths due to consumption of spurious low-cost liquor is not uncommon in India.
In June this year, 92 people died in Mumbai after drinking toxic home-made liquor, while nearly 170 people died in the eastern state of West Bengal in 2011 after drinking spurious liquor. Endit