27 die, more than 100 ill after drinking toxic liquor in India

NEW DELHI:The death toll in an illicit liquor tragedy shot up to 27 Tuesday with more than 100 people still being treated at hospitals in northern India, officials and news reports said.
The victims were villagers of Lucknow and Unnao districts of Uttar Pradesh state.
Fourteen people had died on Monday and 13 more succumbed overnight at hospitals, senior Uttar Pradesh Health Ministry official Preeti Shukla said.
At least 120 people were still being treated, some of them listed in critical condition, Shukla said.
Some of the victims had lost their eyesight, IANS news agency reported.
The man suspected of distributing the liquor to local outlets had been arrested, the IANS news agency said citing police.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav suspended 16 officials of the excise and police departments Monday.
Yadav also ordered a crackdown on illegally brewed liquor across the state, his office said.
The illegal liquor trade thrives in India because it is much cheaper than commercially produced alcohol.
At least 170 people died after drinking illicit alcohol in West Bengal state in 2011, and more than 100 perished in Gujarat in 2009. – dpa