Bootleg alcohol kills 15 in central Iran

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

TEHRAN, Iran (AA) - The death toll from the consumption of bootleg alcohol in central Iran's Alborz province has risen to 15, according to local media.

Shahram Sayadi, the head of Alborz University of Medical Sciences (AUMS), said Tuesday that 182 people have been poisoned in the province.

At least 40 people have been transferred to hospitals of which five are currently admitted to intensive care units (ICUs), he added in statements carried by the semi-official Fars News Agency.

Provincial authorities in Alborz say the bootleg alcohol was sold by a factory producing body spray.

There are also reports about some people losing their eyesight or function of other body parts including the kidney from the consumption of bootleg alcohol.

Hossein Fazil Harikandi, the chief justice of Alborz province, said an investigation has been launched into the poisoning cases that were first reported last week.

According to medical sources, 644 people died due to the consumption of bootleg alcohol in Iran during the Iranian calendar year that ended on March 20.

Iran banned the consumption of alcohol following the 1979 revolution and those who are found violating the ban are slapped with heavy fines or legal action.

There are some exceptions though for religious minorities such as Christians and Jews.

In May last year, at least 10 people were reported dead due to the consumption of bootleg alcohol in the southern coastal city of Bandar Abbas.

Last year, at least eight people died in southern Iran after drinking toxic homemade alcohol.

In November 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic, there were reports about more than 700 people dying from the consumption of methanol and alcohol, which experts at the time attributed to the cataclysmic virus.