Tainted alcohol leaves 10 dead in eastern India

Locally-brewed alcohol tainted with lethal chemicals has left at least 10 people dead and 30 others ill in eastern India’s Orissa state.

The deaths began on Saturday night, soon after villagers drank the liquor, and continued over the next two days in Golabandha village, said a senior state government official, Baisnab Prasad Mohanty.

By last night at least 10 were dead and 30 others were being treated in hospitals in the district where the village is located, Mohanty said.

Authorities have ordered a probe and suspended two local officials, including a policeman, for failing to act against those making and selling the tainted liquor.

Golabandha is about 105 miles south of the state capital, Bhubaneswar.

Last month, 22 people died in the same district after consuming liquor laced with industrial spirits.

Deaths from tainted liquor are frequent in Indian villages, where locally made brew is spiked with banned methyl alcohol to make it stronger.

Officials say bootleggers also mix the illicit liquor with insecticides and other chemicals.