At least 22 people have died and several others have been hospitalized in eastern India after consuming adulterated alcohol, authorities said on Thursday.
The deaths occurred mainly in two villages in the state of Bihar (east), where the sale and consumption of alcohol is prohibited.
Such bans are in effect 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 the Saran district hospital, 22 autopsies have been carried out so far, confirming intoxication with adulterated alcohol.
Several men were first vomited on Tuesday, then their condition deteriorated. Three of them died before reaching the hospital and the others died during their treatment on Wednesday and Thursday.
Local media reported a death toll of at least 31.
A police officer said action had been taken against underground liquor businesses in the area.
“We have arrested more than a dozen liquor dealers,” officer Santosh Kumar told AFP.
Of the approximately five billion liters of alcohol consumed each year 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.