At least 34 people have died after consuming toxic alcohol in Tamil Nadu, southern India.
Authorities say that more than 100 people had to be hospitalised in the Kallakurichi district after they fell ill after consuming the liquor in Tuesday, June 18 night.
At least 80 people are currently receiving treatment for vomiting, stomach ache and diarrhoea.
Police have since arrested a local man for selling the deadly liquor. They have also seized 200 liters of the methanol-laced alcoholic drink.
“The Kallakurichi incident which has caused me so much pain is something that should not have happened,” Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “I am monitoring all the steps being taken. High quality treatment is being provided to those undergoing treatment in the hospital.”
“I have also announced financial assistance to the families of the deceased.”
When manufacturing illegal alcohol, bootleggers often add methanol to their mixture to increase its strength.
Methanol is a highly toxic form of alcohol that if ingested — even in small quantities — can cause blindness, liver damage and death.
The opposition has, however, faulted the government for failing to curb illicit alcohol in the State.
“The deaths caused by illicit liquor in the past two years under the DMK [Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam] regime have decelerated Tamil Nadu by four decades, taking us back to the 1980s,” said K Annamalai, the state chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as reported by the BBC.
