KALLAKURICHI: At least 29 people died on Wednesday after drinking illicit arrack near Kallakurichi in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday night. More than 70 others are being treated in hospitals in Kallakurichi, Villupuram, Salem and Puducherry.
Police arrested a bootlegger named K Govindaraj alias Kannukutti, 49, on charges of selling illicit arrack and seized more than 200 litres of the brew.
Samples tested at a forensic laboratory in Villupuram were found to have the poisonous methanol.
Police said dozens of people from Kallakurichi town and neighbouring areas had consumed illicit arrack sold by bootleggers at Karunapuram on Tuesday night. On reaching home, most of them complained of giddiness, headache, vomiting, nausea, stomach pain and irritation in the eyes. Their family members rushed them to a private hospital in the town and Kallakurichi Government Medical College and Hospital where 10 people died.
The department of health and family welfare dispatched medical teams from government medical colleges and hospitals from Villupuram, Salem and Tiruvannamalai to Kallakurichi to treat the patients. Of the 18 men admitted to Jipmer, three died. Three more patients died in Salem GMCH and one in Villupuram GMCH, taking the toll to 17 so far.
