WB hooch tragedy toll climbs to 107

Illegal joints brewing spurious liquor take a heavy toll

PTI | December 15, 2011



Spurious liquor claimed 50 more lives this morning in South 24 Parganas district, taking the death toll in one of the worst hooch tragedies in West Bengal to 107.

Another 50 people are battling for their lives in several hospitals including some in Kolkata after drinking the toxic brew, official sources said.

The deaths were reported from various hospitals since early morning, they said.

Most of the dead were poor labourers, rickshaw-pullers and hawkers, who fell ill after consuming spurious liquor from several illegal joints yesterday.

Post-mortem of all the 107 bodies has been done and the bodies handed over to the families of the victims.

The state government yesterday announced a compensation of Rs two lakh each to the families of the deceased.

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