Another ten people have died and death toll rose to 28 ,as claimed by independent sources .The number of deaths of people who drank poisoned homemade alcohol in southern Iran rose to 10 and several more were in critical condition.At least eighteen people have died in southern Iran after drinking toxic homemade alcohol, a medical official in Hormozgan province has said.
“Eighteen people have died after drinking adulterated homemade alcohol in Bandar Abbas on May 3rd,”in the provincial capital. However, medical faculty spokesperson Fatemeh Norouzian had confirmed the death of eight people and 17 in critical condition.
The total number of people poisoned in the city had reached 59, she said on Monday, quoted by state news agency IRNA.
Nine men and one woman have died in the coastal city of Bandar Abbas and 19 more have been hospitalised with four in critical condition, Fatemeh Nowruzian, spokeswoman of Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, told the semi-official Tasnim news website on Sunday.
Nowruzian added 75 people were taken to hospitals with signs of alcohol poisoning so far, of whom 45 had to undergo dialysis and four suffered vision impairment.
Police announced earlier this month eight people were arrested on suspicion of producing and distributing alcohol after it was found in their homes during searches.Producing, selling, and consuming alcohol is strictly forbidden in Iran – with some exceptions for religious minorities – and those caught with it face the punishment of flogging.
Those who drink it have suffered blindness or major organ damage because of poisoning from unsafe homemade alcohol over the years.
Nowruzian did not identify the toxic substance that caused the most recent deaths. In the past, people have died because of lethal levels of methanol added to homemade beverages.
Used in making anti-freeze, solvents and fuel, methanol is colourless and odourless, and is sometimes added by bootleggers to their concoctions to increase alcohol content. But it can cause organ damage, blindness, and ultimately death even in little amounts.
In 2020, during the COVID pandemic, Iran saw an enormous number of alcohol poisonings with more than 700 people dying from drinking methanol, because they mistakenly thought it would help kill the coronavirus. Dozens more were blinded at the time.
