Assam toxic alcohol deaths: 99 people die in north-eastern Indian state

At least 99 people have died and more than 100 are being treated in hospital after drinking toxic bootleg alcohol in north-eastern India, officials say.

Several women are amog the victims, who all worked on tea plantations in Assam state.

The deaths come days after tainted spirits killed about 100 people in the northern states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

An inquiry has been ordered into the tragedy. The first victims died on Thursday, the administrator of the Golaghat district in Assam is quoted as saying Agence France-Presse.

The victims all worked in tea plantations in Golaghat and Jorhat districts.

Doctors of all hospitals where the victims are being treated are baffled by the ingredients used in the illegal alcohol, which is causing organ failure.

An expert team from the city of Guwahati is on its way to analyse the mixture and investigate its contents.

“The people came to the hospital with severe vomiting, extreme chest pain and breathlessness,” Dr Bordoloi told AFP.

One worker who is undergoing treatment told the BBC that he had been at a tea plantation on Thursday. “I had bought half a litre of wine and drank it before eating. Initially, everything was normal, but after some time my head started hurting. The headache grew so much that I could not eat or sleep.”

Deaths from illegally produced alcohol, which is much cheaper than branded spirits, are common in parts of rural India. Bootleggers often add methano, a highly toxic form of alcohol sometimes used as an anti-freeze- to their mixture to increase strength, AFP reports.