Tamil Nadu: At least 34 dead after consuming toxic alcohol

According to official figures, at least 34 people have died in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu after consuming toxic illegal alcohol.

The incident occurred in Kallakuruchi district, where several residents fell ill after consuming alcohol on Tuesday evening.

At least 80 people are being treated in hospitals for illnesses such as severe diarrhea, and the death toll could rise, authorities said.

So far, two people have been arrested and a more comprehensive investigation is underway.

Authorities also suspended a senior police officer and 10 members of the state Prohibition Board, which oversees the smuggling of illegal alcohol in the state, for negligence.

Every year, dozens of people die in India because they drink moonshine from illegal distilleries.

Black marketeers often add methanol, a highly toxic alcohol sometimes used as antifreeze, to their mixture to increase the concentration.

Even small amounts of methanol can cause blindness, liver damage and death.

In Kallakuruchi, the accused allegedly sold the concoction in packets through a local dealer, according to the website The News Minute.

The alcohol consumers experienced symptoms such as dizziness, headaches, vomiting, nausea, stomach pain and eye irritation and were hospitalized.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has announced compensation of one million rupees (US$12,000 or £9,425) to the families of the deceased and 50,000 rupees each to those in hospital.

“Those involved in the crime have been arrested. Actions have also been taken against the officers who could not prevent it,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

But opposition parties criticise the government for its inability to curb toxic alcohol consumption in the state.

“The deaths caused by illicit liquor in the last two years under the DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) regime have slowed down Tamil Nadu by four decades and thrown us back to the 1980s,” said K. Annamalai, state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

He called for the immediate resignation of the minister responsible for overseeing alcohol sales.

Additional reporting by Mayakrishnan Kannan for BBC Tamil