Death toll from drinking tainted liquor rises to 42 in northern India

10/20/2013

In this Friday, Oct. 18, 2013 photo, relatives of an unidentified person died after drinking toxic liquor, wail near his body, in Adampur village, in Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. A batch of toxic bootleg liquor killed at least 32 people, mostly poor laborers, and sickened dozens more in northern India, police said Saturday. (AP Photo)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LUCKNOW, India — Another 10 people have died in hospitals after drinking toxic bootleg liquor in northern India, police said today, raising the death toll to 42 in the past three days.

Some 40 people are being treated in hospitals in Uttar Pradesh state, said District Magistrate Neena Sharma.

Police arrested 32 people for illegally brewing and selling the toxic drink to the villagers, who were celebrating the Hindu “Dussehra” festival in Azamgarh district last week, Sharma said. The region is 185 miles southeast of Lucknow, the state capital.

Deaths from drinking illegally brewed alcohol are common in India because the poor cannot afford licensed liquor. Illicit liquor is often spiked with chemicals such as pesticides to increase potency.