150 die from tainted booze
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2019 09:28:47 +0000
GAUHATI, India (AP) – At least 150 people have died and about 200 people have been hospitalized after drinking tainted liquor in two separate incidents in India’s remote northeast, authorities said yesterday.
The victims of one of the most deadly bootleg liquor-related incidents in India were mostly tea plantation workers in Golaghat and Jorhat districts in Assam state, said Himanta Biswa Sharma, the state’s health minister.
Assam is India’s largest tea-producing state, with more than 1,000 plantations producing more than 50 percent of Indian tea.
The workers consumed the tainted liquor laced with methyl alcohol, a chemical that attacks the central nervous system, on Thursday and started falling unconscious. They were rushed to nearby hospitals and the death toll rose to 150 early yesterday, police and health officials said.
Sharma, the minister, said about 200 people who fell sick after drinking the toxic liquor are in hospitals, some in critical condition. Officials said 50 patients have died in the past 24 hours.
The owner of a local brewing unit and 13 others have been arrested, said top police official Mukesh Agarwal. He said police are pursuing other people believed to be connected to the racket as part of an ongoing investigation.