36 dead and dozens more hospitalised after drinking illegally brewed toxic alcohol in India

At least 36 people have died with more than 60 others being treated in hospitals after consuming tainted liquor in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, a government spokesperson said on Thursday.

Since Wednesday over 100 people, suffering from vomiting, stomach ache, and diarrhoea, have needed hospital treatment in the Kallakurichi district, 150 miles by road from the state capital Chennai, the spokesperson said.

The state government said it had taken disciplinary action against at least 10 officials, including the district’s chief administrator and its police chief.

‘I was shocked and saddened to hear the news … Action has also been taken against the officials who failed to prevent it,’ Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said in a post on X.

Police arrested four people over the sale of illicit liquor and seized 200 litres of the methanol-mixed alcoholic drink, the state government said.