Authorities in India say that the death toll has risen to 57 after people consumed toxic alcohol last week in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Several residents in the state’s Kallakuruchi district were rushed to hospital after they fell ill from consuming poisonous liquor.
More than 150 people are still receiving treatment for illnesses such as extreme diarrhoea. Five people have been arrested so far and a wider investigation is ongoing.
Dozens of people die in India each year after drinking toxic alcohol from backstreet distilleries that often add methanol to increase its strength. On Sunday, police said they arrested the man who had allegedly sold methanol to the vendors.
At least 32 of the deaths reported were from Karunapuram, a neighbourhood where the vast majority were living in poverty.
Authorities also suspended a senior police official and 10 members of the state’s prohibition enforcement wing for negligence.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin had announced a compensation of 1 million rupees to families of those who have died and 50,000 rupees each to those who are in hospital.
“Those involved in the crime have been arrested. Action has also been taken against officials who failed to prevent it,” he wrote on X last week.