In February 2019, nearly 100 people died after drinking contaminated alcohol in two neighboring states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand in northern India.[1] [2]
Deaths from illicit liquor are common in India, where illegally manufactured alcohol is often consumed for reasons including poverty and geographic isolation. Bootleggers have been known to add methanol, a toxic substance used in antifreeze, to such brews; it can also be present because of a mistake in the distilling process. According to the latest figures from India’s National Crime Records Bureau, 1,522 people died of drinking spurious liquor in 2015 — nearly all of them men.
In Uttar Pradesh, the state that reported the majority of the deaths, had 36 people dying in Saharanpur district and eight in Kushinagar district.[3]
In Uttarakhand, 36 people died in Haridwar district after consuming illegal liquor served to them as part of a mourning ritual. Authorities said they believe the two incidents were linked, with mourners probably having made the journey from Uttar Pradesh to Uttarakhand to transport liquor to sell.[4] [3]
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, received about 93 patients of methanol poisoning over a four-day period.[5]
The police arrested eight suspected bootleggers.[6] [7]