NEW DELHI: With more than 100 people still in hospital, The death toll has climbed to 54 from consumption of tainted liquor in India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu, a government official said on Saturday.

Nearly 200 people have been treated since Wednesday for stomach aches and diarrhoea, after drinking liquor spiked with methanol in the district of Kallakurichi, about 250km from the state capital Chennai.

Law enforcement officials investigating the incident have arrested seven people, said M.S. Prasanth, a senior district official, adding that follow-up action was being taken against liquor sellers and brewers in the district.

Videos from ANI and local media showed state ministers and opposition leaders making a beeline to the district to meet the victims. There was a mass cremation of the deceased and families carried out last rites only a few metres apart, videos showed, reminiscent of images from India during the height of Covid-19 pandemic.

Over a dozen people died last year in a similar incident in Tamil Nadu, while 115 deaths from tainted hooch consumption were reported in states of Bihar and Gujarat.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2024