India: Scores Dead from Cheap Illegal Booze

(Gujarat, India) Although alcohol is prohibited in Gujarat and other parts of India, many Indians prepare and consume home-brewed alcoholic drinks of questionable quality and safety. Sadly, the concoctions are often laced with pesticides and other deadly chemicals for extra kick.

At least 86 people are now known to have died in India's Gujarat state after drinking toxic illegal alcohol, police say.

Labourers in the city of Ahmedabad were admitted to hospital on Tuesday after drinking illegal brew on Monday night.

Authorities fear that this might not be the final death toll as more people had been admitted to hospital.

Most of the dead are slum dwellers. Deaths from illegally brewed alcohol are common in South Asia.

Police are searching for the perpetrators.