40 dead in Pakistan after drinking contaminated alcohol

KARACHI, (AFP)

Forty people have died as a result of drinking contaminated alcohol in the Pakistani city of Karachi after 13 more deaths Saturday, police and medics said. Doctors were trying to save around two dozen others admitted to hospitals in the southern port city where scores fell sick Thursday and Friday after drinking the liquor, medics said.

"So far 40 people have died because of drinking toxic liquor," city police chief Javed Bokhari said. Around 14 died on Thursday and another 13 on Friday.

"It is tragic to see people dying in so many numbers," doctor Seemi Jamali of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where many of the victims were admitted, told AFP. "The victims suffered irreversible damage because of poisoning," she said.

Many victims were shy of reporting to hospital because the holy month of Ramadan is being observed in this overwhelmingly Muslim country. Drinking alcohol is prohibited in Islam but even those who drink often stop during Ramadan.

"Those victims came to the hospital after horrible delays and only when they suffered blindness," said Jamali. Around 25 more victims were hospitalised and, according to Jamali, many of them were in a serious condition. "Patients are still coming," said Jamali.

Most of the victims were labourers who lost consciousness after buying the alcohol on Thursday.

Police chief Bokhari said they had arrested two men for illegally brewing the alcohol and another four for selling it. Three senior police officials have also been placed under suspension for failing to check the illegal sale in the areas under their supervision, Bokhari said.