At least 37 people have died after consuming adulterated alcohol in the northeastern Indian state of Bihar, which bans alcoholic beverages, authorities said on Saturday, with unconfirmed news reports of up to 60 deaths.
The sale and consumption of alcohol is banned in several parts of India, which has spawned a thriving black market that kills hundreds of people every year.
The latest tragedy in Bihar has already caused the death of 37 people, a police official told AFP. He could not confirm local media reports of 62 dead.
According to the families of the victims, residents of several villages drank at a wedding and other gatherings on Monday a locally made drink known as ‘Mahua’ or ‘Desi Daru’.
Many of them then complained of stomach pains and loss of vision and then began to vomit. By Tuesday, more than twenty people had died.
Authorities reported on Thursday at least 22 autopsies confirming intoxication with adulterated alcohol. On Saturday, more than a dozen were in hospital in critical condition.
Police have arrested more than 100 people linked to the illegal manufacture and sale of alcohol in the past three days. Six hundred liters of alcohol were seized.
Of the approximately five billion liters of alcohol consumed annually in the country, about 40% is produced illegally, according to the International Wine and Spirits Association of India.
Clandestine 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 consuming bootleg alcohol. Last year, around 100 people died in the northern state of Punjab in similar circumstances.