Illegal alcohol kills 126 in West Bengal : Dead likely to increase

More than 100 people have been killed by contaminated homemade alcoholic spirits in the Indian state of West Bengal.

Most of the dead are poor manual labourers, rickshaw pullers and hawkers who drank the "country liquor" at a series of makeshift bars all supplied by the same illicit distillery in the town of Diamond Harbour.

Scores more are being treated in hospital and the death toll is expected to continue rising.

"I had purchased two half-litre pouches for 10 rupees while returning home last evening and drank the liquor before dinner. After midnight I felt a pain in my throat. Then I started vomiting," Julfikar Saddar, 35, told the Calcutta Telegraph newspaper from his hospital bed.

This kind of poisoning is frequent in India where local police and inspectors regularly take bribes to turn a blind eye to the production and sale of illicit alcohol, also known as desi daroo. Most cases go unreported.

In 2009, 130 people were killed by illegally produced alcohol in a similar incident in the western state of Gujarat.

Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, told local media that "consumption of illicit liquor is a social disease" that "has to be eradicated".

Four people are under arrest and 10 illegal shops selling alcohol have been demolished in Diamond Harbour, officials have said.

Angry locals are reported to have destroyed the distillery blamed for the tragedy.

Local residents said one shop was opposite a police station but had been trading openly.

A litre of "chpeti", the local spirit, costs 10 rupees. A manual labourer in India usually earns around 150 rupees for a day's work. The drink is often sold door-to-door by salesmen on bicycles.

Alcoholism is a significant problem in both rural and urban areas.

The state of West Bengal is one of the poorest in India and suffers from some of the deepest corruption.

This week a fire in a hospital killed 90 people in the state capital of Kolkata. It is believed to have started in a carpark under an annex that was being used as a store in breach of local regulations.