At least 22 people have died in eastern India and several others have been hospitalized after consuming adulterated alcohol, authorities said on Thursday.
The deaths occurred mainly in two villages in Bihar state (east), where the sale and consumption of alcohol is banned.
Such bans are in place in several Indian states, where alcohol from unregulated, clandestine distilleries not only fuels a thriving black market but also kills hundreds of people each year.
According to Sagar Dulal Sinha, head of Saran District Hospital, 22 autopsies have been carried out so far, confirming poisoning from adulterated alcohol.
Several men were first vomited on Tuesday, then their condition worsened. Three of them died before reaching the hospital and the others died while being treated on Wednesday and Thursday.
Local media reported at least 31 fatalities.
A police officer said action has been taken against illegal liquor stores in the area.
“We arrested more than a dozen liquor dealers,” officer Santosh Kumar told AFP.
Of the approximately five billion liters of alcohol that the country consumes each year, about 40% is produced illegally, according to the International Wine and Spirits Association of India.
Homemade alcoholic beverages are often adulterated with methanol to increase their alcohol content. Ingested methanol can cause blindness, liver damage, and death.
Last July, 42 people died in the western state of Gujarat after drinking illegal alcohol. About 100 people died in similar circumstances in the northern state of Punjab last year.