Nearly 10,000 bottles of Serbia's beloved fruit brandy — known as rakija — will be used to disinfect a hospital in the central city of Krusevac, the local Red Cross said.

The bottles of Viljamovka, a variety of the drink made from pear, have been sitting in a state depot since 2005 after failing an inspection.

Under the Red Cross initiative, they will be processed into 70 per cent alcohol to provide extra disinfectant for the hospital during the coronavirus pandemic, said Emina Todorovic, the organisation's local secretary.

“We have another wave of the coronavirus looming, so extra disinfectant will be of benefit,” she told AFP.