Intoxication increased to 32 in Russia after drinking adulterated alcohol at home

Russian authorities confirmed this Sunday in a new balance the death of 32 people because of the ingestion of adulterated homemade alcohol in the province of Orenburg, located in the southwest of the Eurasian country.

Orenburg authorities have stressed that a total of 64 people have been affected by the consumption of this alcohol, “of which 32 are deceased,” as reported by the regional health ministry in a statement collected by the Russian news agency Sputnik.

Orenburg Health Minister Tatiana Sávinova said that “Doctors are doing their best to save lives, but the concentration of methanol in the blood of many patients is several times greater than the maximum lethality”.

The governor of the region, Denis Pasler, issued an urgent appeal to the population not to buy alcohol and added that there is a large-scale inspection of liquor stores to eliminate unsafe drinks.

“Until results are finalized, alcohol consumption can be fatal”, Said, as reported by the German news agency DPA. Authorities said more than a thousand bottles were seized.

On the other hand, the commission of inquiry announced the arrest of three people in the context of an investigation for the alleged offense of manufacturing and distributing harmful products. One of them, a 29-year-old man from Orsk, is suspected of producing adulterated alcohol, investigators said in a statement.

Herbal cosmetic and medicinal lotions containing 70-96 percent alcohol in Russia are a cheap alternative to vodka for drug addicts and an activity for traffickers that allows them to bypass sales channels and taxes established in the alcohol industry.

The consumption of spirits and household products containing alcohol is quite common in the poorest regions of Russia and is the cause of a large number of alcohol-related deaths. Those who consume these products are generally the most socially disadvantaged.

In December 2016, at least 76 people died in the Russian province of Irkutsk, Siberia, as a result of ingesting “Boyárishnik”, a cheap substitute for vodka that contained methyl alcohol instead of l ethanol. Following the deaths, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the tragedy required “great attention”.

Dmitry Medvedev, then Prime Minister, ordered the government to “solve” the problem of selling alcohol-free products to impoverished alcoholics.

(With information from Europa Press and AFP)

KEEP READING: