At least 34 people have died after consuming toxic bootleg alcohol in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, officials reported.
The incident occurred in Kallakuruchi district, where several residents fell ill after drinking the liquor on Tuesday night.
At least 80 people are receiving treatment in hospitals for conditions such as excessive diarrhea, and officials warn that the death toll may rise further.
Two people have been arrested, and a broader investigation is underway.
Authorities have also suspended a senior police official and ten members of the state’s prohibition enforcement wing, which oversees the smuggling of illicit alcohol, for negligence.
Dozens of people die in India each year from drinking bootleg alcohol produced in backstreet distilleries.
Bootleggers often add methanol—a highly toxic form of alcohol sometimes used as antifreeze—to their mixtures to increase potency.
Even small quantities of methanol can cause blindness, liver damage, and death if ingested.
In Kallakuruchi, the accused allegedly sold the toxic concoction in packets through a local vendor, according to The News Minute website.
Those who consumed the alcohol experienced symptoms such as dizziness, headaches, vomiting, nausea, stomach pain, and eye irritation, leading to their hospitalization.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has announced a compensation of 1 million rupees ($12,000; £9,425) for the families of those who died and 50,000 rupees for those who are hospitalized.
“Those involved in the crime have been arrested. Action has also been taken against the officials who failed to prevent it,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
But opposition parties have criticised the government for failing to curb toxic alcohol in the state.
“The deaths caused by illicit liquor in the past two years under the DMK [Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam] regime have decelerated Tamil Nadu by four decades, taking us back to the 1980s,” said K Annamalai, the state chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
He demanded that the minister in charge of overseeing the sale of alcohol should resign immediately.